what coin in your collection do you regret buying??

[michael]

 

 

when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??

 

why do you think you should have not bought it??

 

and what are you going to do with it??

 

are you going to try to sell it in 2009?

 

 

[okbustchaser]

A Fine 1832 bust half dollar back in 1975,

 

"when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??"

Just as soon as I bought a second half.

 

"why do you think you should have not bought it??"

I've been broke ever since.

 

"and what are you going to do with it??"

It was stolen along with the rest of my bust halves in 2001.

 

"are you going to try to sell it in 2009?"

As I said above I no longer have it, but even if I did I don't ever sell my coins.

 

 

 

 

[toyonakataro]

A pretty toned 1837 seated half dime from ebay seller in August 2001.

 

"when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??"

When I found myself pretty addicted to seated half dimes.

 

"why do you think you should have not bought it??"

Because I'm sick and addicted to seated half dimes.

 

"and what are you going to do with it??"

Keep it forever because I'm sick and addicted.

 

"are you going to try to sell it in 2009?"

No, because I'm sick and addicted.

[BillJones]

what coin in your collection do you regret buying??

 

1808 quarter eagle in PCGS AU-50

 

 

when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??

 

When the economy started to go south and the government started these ridiculous, poorly planned and ill advised bail out programs. I think these policies are going to make the economic downturn worse an prolong it. We are in for a difficult period.

 

why do you think you should have not bought it??

 

It's too much money to have in one coin, and if I am never able to complete my told type set, it would not have made a lot sense to buy it.

 

what are you going to do with it??

 

Hold it. I would lose thousands on it now. And if I do complete the set one day, this piece will fit in nicely. The price will probably be lower on the future, but finding another one in a down market would be a chore. Collectors take the good stuff off the market when the market is bad. I know that from 40+ years as a serious collector.

 

are you going to try to sell it in 2009?

 

Not unless I end up in the poor house.

 

[astrostu]

Two coins: An Indian Head Cent (maybe AU) and a Peace Dollar (MS-64?).

 

"when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??"

IHC: Really before I bought it, but then after I bought it and asked some other folks what they thought.

PD: After I took it to a grader and they told me that what I had been told was due to the way the coin minted after it fell on the coin was actually rub. and so took it from MS-64/5 to AU.

 

"why do you think you should have not bought it??"

IHC: The odd color.

PD: See above.

 

"and what are you going to do with it??"

Both: Keep it until I get a better example.

 

"are you going to try to sell it in 2009?"

Both: Only if I get a better example and am offered decent money for 'em.

 

 

Lesson Learned: Not to buy from that dealer again. There are two possibilities here - (1) He didn't know that they were not original specimins or as he represented them, in which case his ignorance of it should be a warning that I shouldn't buy from him; or (2) he did know and deliberately deceived me, in which case he's immoral and I should not buy from him.

[ldhair]

For me it was an 1849-O Seated dime in MS. I bought it from a Bowers auction back in 1996 but was too stupid to catch the small PVC problem. After a few years it was a big problem.

 

I'll probably keep it forever to remind me.

[World Colonial]

Of the coins I own now, hands down it is a 1925 South Africa half penny which I bought as an "uncirculated red" but which in actuality was neither. It was a cleaned miscolored light brown coin which is now in an NCS "AU details" holder. The coin might actually be uncirculated because I have seen very few coins with an "UNC" details grade (I own one), but it was never red which is what the price was based upon.

 

I am usually in the position of having to take a risk of buying coins sight unseen because otherwise, I would never buy anything since there is nothing available for sale in the Phoenix area that I collect. But this time I made the additional mistake of trusting this South Africa dealer who has 40 years of experience by not even asking for a photo. And to top it off, I paid more than the catalog price because if it had graded, it would have been a bargain. But instead, my $600 is probably worth $75.

 

Needless to say, this dealer has now been "fired' and I will never buy anything from them again. The other coins in the group I bought were a mixed bag. No other problem coins but a few sliders (NGC AU-58) sold as uncirculated and several other coppers also sold as "UNC Red" that I did not bother to have graded because they were AU brown with slight traces of red.

 

As to when I am going to get rid of, it will be in 2009 when I include it with a group of other NCS coins that I am also going to unload on eBay for a fraction of what I paid for them.

[DirtyGoldMan]

For me it was a low-mid grade, obscure variety territorial.

 

I am considering selling it in 2009.

[jtryka]

I am too much of an optimist to think of such things! Besides, most of my Saints and other coins were purchased for half of current melt, what should I regret?

[michael]

for me it was a counterfiet gold commem 1 dollar louis and clark

like 30+ years ago

 

i discovered it after the fact and luckily sold it back to the dealer who sold it to me in the first place

 

and many other expensive lessons many decades ago

 

but we wont go into that on here

 

[TJ'S Coins]

I've had several coins that fall into this category. Some that stand out

 

A 1924 D SLQ that has UNC details but has been cleaned and has a funky purple tone.

 

An 1877 S Seated Half Dollar that was harshly cleaned.

 

An 1901 Barber Quarter with UNC details but cleaned on the reverse

 

These deeply regretted coins were foolishly made before I really knew what I was doing. Each one suckered me in with a look I thought was "cool". Each taught me some valuable lessons. Only one of these three remains in my collection - for the time being.

[MikeInFL]

what coin in your collection do you regret buying??

 

High-grade moderns to fill up my type set.

 

In retrospect, I should have just collected type through '64.

[BillJones]

Dollar for dollar you get a lot more points for high grade modern coins than you do for the rarer early types. I can vouch for that. Guys ahead of me have early coins in grades like FR-2 while I have coins in VF to MS-62. But they have coins in MS-67 while I have MS-65 so they are ahead of me. HIgh grades get registry points; rarity does not in a relative sense.

[TomB]

The way that my collection is currently constituted makes me believe that there are no coins in it that I regret buying. This might mean that I have a fine, quality collection or it might mean that I have more to learn.

[chinook]

Everyone I have bought from you Michael. Just kidding.

 

How you been?

 

 

[Yarm]

Perhaps this coin was technically "Fleur de coin" as described in the auction material. However, it was not apparent from the image provided that it was struck from rusted dies. Well, at least I like the design.

 

[EZ_E]

A Fine 1832 bust half dollar back in 1975,

 

"when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??"

Just as soon as I bought a second half.

 

"why do you think you should have not bought it??"

I've been broke ever since.

 

I know the feeling!

 

"and what are you going to do with it??"

It was stolen along with the rest of my bust halves in 2001.

 

............................................

 

"are you going to try to sell it in 2009?"

As I said above I no longer have it, but even if I did I don't ever sell my coins.

 

Knowing you as an advanced collector, I'm surprised that you feel that way. To be a balanced and more knowledgeable collector, I feel that it is imperative that one experience the other side of the hobby. Plus, it is best, IMO, to get rid of mistakes sooner rather than later.

 

 

 

 

[okbustchaser]

Knowing you as an advanced collector, I'm surprised that you feel that way. To be a balanced and more knowledgeable collector, I feel that it is imperative that one experience the other side of the hobby. Plus, it is best, IMO, to get rid of mistakes sooner rather than later.

 

I have read this advice from many collectors and dealers over the years. I still don't understand why selling coins somehow makes me a better collector of coins.

 

I can understand how trying to sell something can get me the benefit of someone else's opinion, however, I have never had a problem getting that same opinion simply by showing the coin to a fellow collector.

 

I can understand the reasoning that trying to sell coins can show me the proper price to pay for a coin when buying that coin. The problem with that is that I already own that coin and have no need to buy it again at whatever the proper price should be in the current market.

 

I can even accept that I might be paying too much for the coins that I do buy because I never try to sell one back. That is even quite possible. However, I never--in fact, logically no one will--pay more for something than it is worth TO ME!! Since I don't care whether my decendants make any profit when selling my collection after my death MY opinion of a coin's value is the only opinion that matters in the transaction.

 

As for getting rid of mistakes--I don't buy them in the first place. Do I ever buy coins with problems? Of course I do. In fact, I probably buy more problem coins now then I did when first starting my bust half collection. Many of the die marriages I now need are only available with problems. In what way does that mean that they are mistakes, though? I bought them knowing that they weren't perfect. I spent no more than they were worth to me. I spent money which I didn't ever need or expect to see again.

 

The bottom line is that I don't enjoy even the idea of selling. That's work!!! Collecting is my hobby--in other words what I do when NOT working.

[jgrinz]

 

when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??

 

why do you think you should have not bought it??

 

and what are you going to do with it??

 

are you going to try to sell it in 2009?

 

 

75% of my Collection - Before I actually specialized I wanted to collect EVRYTHING ... Most of that 75% is sold now

I still may unload some more proof sets but that is undecided at this point.

 

 

[Oldtrader3]

I guess that, based on earlier this year sales, I regret buying every coin that I have owned which was minted after 1938. Including Jefferson Nickels and particularly modern silver commemoratives. However, life goes on and I will not make this mistake again.

[ant]

ill just say all the cleaned coins i baught thinking they were gradable

[Count_Erfit]

An inexpensive but attractive 1902 Colombian 50 centavo. A one year type and at the time I was collecting Liberty head half dollar sized coins of US and the world. And Liberty (or "Libertad") is prevalent in South and Central America.

 

when did you discover that you should have never bought the coin??

 

Right after I sent the check to the seller. You see, at the time I was just learning about coins from a "friend" of mine I had met at a coin club and at shows who was expert in foreign gold and other foreign coins who showed me a specimen HE had just acquired. I liked the design and began searching for one.

Finally I found one in the old small format "World Coins." My "friend" even saw it in his copy and told me about it and I told him I had already ordered it.

 

why do you think you should have not bought it??

 

Because I never got it. The ad had no telephone number. Only an address. About a week after I ordered it, my "friend" told me I would not get it. I asked why and he told me that HE had ordered it. I asked how and why since he had called my attention to it even after I had found it in the magazine.

He told me he decided that he would rather have it than have me get it. AND reminded me that "directory assistance" existed and that was how HE got to the seller by PHONE.

 

and what are you going to do with it??

 

I'm still using the experience of it in choosing COIN "friends" with a jaundiced eye. It was a valuable lesson in human nature and the value of trust. The "friend" is now dead and good riddance. This was someone who my wife and I went to dinner with and travelled together and actually had quite a good time up to that point. It was an 8 dollar coin. Actually I had heard of his "reputation" but had not experienced it.

 

are you going to try to sell it in 2009?

 

I sold one last year that I found AFTER I quit having any contact with bohunkus.

 

And that was one coin that I .....really ..... REGRET!

 

[bsshog40]

You know I've thought about this post for a while now since it started. There are some coins that I have that are just not what I expected them to be but I actually have to say that I don't have a single coin that I regret buying.

[RI AL]

Way back in my "all slabs are god" stage....even the ones sweet little ole' Grannies were making in their kitchens while their sons were manning the stills in the back woods, I picked up a clunker or 2. Here is my "MS 62" ANI (WHO???)1873 arrows quarter. It looked pretty good to me on e-Bay years ago (boy...have I learned a lot since THOSE days). There appears to be some sort of gouge in Liberty's lap that really doesn't show unless really magnified (which obviously I didn't do when I bought the coin). It kind of looks like someone took a bite out of her lap. Actually, the cap and hand don't look so hot either. Any theories?? This coin is destined for resale on e-Bay...with the flaw disclosed, or for use in a pay phone...if I can find one