Whats your pet peeve regarding coins?

[Schatzy]

Mine is people that put stickers on my slabs!!

 

I just got this slab in the mail today from Teletrade and as always I peel

the sticker off of the back and half of the hologram came with it!!

[Revenant]

Oh wow... You'll have to send that in for re-holdering right away.

 

I hate the insufficiently_thoughtful_persons that put stickers with more permanent adhesives on the face of the slab so that there's this wonderful gunky build-up that refuses to go away.

[Schatzy]

You'll have to send that in for re-holdering right away.

 

No Way!! I would never send a old fatty to get reholdered!!

[Schatzy]

Revenant try using some Goo Gone to remove the adhesive!!

[jtryka]

I usually get annoyed with people who make snap judgements and assume you know less than you do. Usually that's when I smile and walk away. I also get annoyed by "condition rarities" just because, it's fine for people to waste their money on "perfect" slabbed coins, just don't force me to condone/support it.

[astrostu]

How about ... how expensive the ones are that I want.

 

And people who out-bid me. And coins that tone on my shelves.

 

But in terms of things that I can change ... yeah, stickers on slabs, but really just photographing through slabs is a major peeve of mine.

[PCcoins]

I'm with you Jaime. I keep a bottle of goo-gone for annoying sticker residue on coins.

 

And I like to have my slabs all from the same TPG with my main series to collect.

[jgrinz]

Yeah I hate stickers on my slabs - whats with this one

Gotta scrape that puppy off

 

[okbustchaser]

The best cure for stickers on slabs (and the attendant glue) is a hammer.

[Revenant]

The best cure for stickers on slabs (and the attendant glue) is a hammer.

 

I think that's a wee bit excessive...

[tonidanzawillpay]

FINGERPRINTS

[PerryHall]

Mine is people that put stickers on my slabs!!

 

I just got this slab in the mail today from Teletrade and as always I peel

the sticker off of the back and half of the hologram came with it!!

 

The holograms on the early NGC slabs were quite fragile and they came off easily. It helps to soak the label with a few drops of Googone or WD-40 to soften the label before you peel it off.

[PerryHall]

I hate slabs with debris inside---especially food or hair.

[Schatzy]

Mine is people that put stickers on my slabs!!

 

I just got this slab in the mail today from Teletrade and as always I peel

the sticker off of the back and half of the hologram came with it!!

 

The holograms on the early NGC slabs were quite fragile and they came off easily. It helps to soak the label with a few drops of Googone or WD-40 to soften the label before you peel it off.

 

I wish I knew that before I just peeled the sticker off. It's okay since I cooled off. I still like the coin. It has almost 4 full steps!!

[BillJones]

My pet peeve is with the mint. There are too many new coin designs that make no sense.

 

In the old days (1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s) we really needed new coin designs, but hardly ever got any. Now we have this overwhelming flood of “collector trash” sometimes with less than attractive designs (That’s PC for “ugly!”) that add nothing to a modern numismatic collection.

 

[Mark T]

My pet peeve is with the mint. There are too many new coin designs that make no sense.

 

In the old days (1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s) we really needed new coin designs, but hardly ever got any. Now we have this overwhelming flood of “collector trash” sometimes with less than attractive designs (That’s PC for “ugly!”) that add nothing to a modern numismatic collection.

 

 

Bill I was thinking about this topic and then you took the works out of my mouth.

I am shocked to see people paying $ 75 for a roll of 2009 Lincoln Log pennies. To each their own but I prefer to collect coins that are next to impossible to find in pocket change!!

Well you can say this, the mint keeps PCGS and NGC busy and in business.

 

[braddick]

You guys hit the nail on the head. So many slabs are damaged due to neglect. I know this is nothing major in the complaint department (but, again, really... isn't that one of the conditions of a 'pet peeve' in that it isn't a major issue but rather something that is somewhat benign?).

 

Sending in coins for reholdering is a hassle as so not necessary if dealers would just show a little more respect for their inventory.

How many times are you at a show and you see dealers tossing slabs together in a box without any regard to the end user- the collector- who is going to purchase the coin?

[BillJones]

Sending in coins for reholdering is a hassle as so not necessary if dealers would just show a little more respect for their inventory.

How many times are you at a show and you see dealers tossing slabs together in a box without any regard to the end user- the collector- who is going to purchase the coin?

 

Hats off to NGC for coming up with the highly scratch resistant slab! Their new slab will reduce or eliminate the need to re-holder coins because of excessive marks that sometimes made it impossible to enjoy the contents of the slab.

 

In the dealers’ defense carrying coins from show to show in NGC style boxes that kept the slabs from scraping up against each other made the inventory too bulky for most dealers. I did it when I was in business, but I had a small inventory.

 

[123cents]

Slabs that are so scratched that they have to be re-holdered.

[EZ_E]

Bill nailed it right on the head. There is no imaginative or creative designs coming from the mint. They all bite the big pony! Has anyone seen the awful wheat sheaf design that is being recommended for the reverse of the cent. Horrid!

[James_OldeTowne]

My pet peeve, without question, is coins that do not belong in slabs. People seem to be slabbing everything today, from damaged common VG wheat cents to 1991 clad dimes in AU. WHY? And why slab MS coins that jump from $1 in MS-63 all the way up to $2 in MS-65?

 

I need literally hundreds of coins that cost a few bucks or less for my various collections, and am content with the idea of searching them out "in the raw". But I just can't stand the idea of paying $15 for a coin that should cost me $3. And it's just because some fool somewhere was willing to pay $12 in slabbing fees.

 

Rant over!!!!!!!!

[BillJones]

My main reason for buying marginal valued slabbed coins, like modern pieces in PR-69, D Cam holders, is the registry. I'd like to have a 100% complete type set someday. These slabbed coins also provide a convenient way to collect these coins without busting them out of their mint Proof set holders. I’ve had bad experiences with Proof coins that have been removed from their mint holders. Conversely slabs seem provide good protection for these pieces.

[Jeffrey Cardona]

Mine would be my complete lack of ability to take a decent picture of my coins!

 

Scratches on the plastic are annoying too...especially when you do it yourself!

 

I left one of my slabbed modern comms on my bed and my wonderful kitty thought it was a play toy and knocked it on the ground and attacked it. She got a few teeth marks on it before I got it back...bad bad kitty!!

 

Should of known better...she did the same thing to my cell phone!!

[braddick]

My pet peeve, without question, is coins that do not belong in slabs. People seem to be slabbing everything today, from damaged common VG wheat cents to 1991 clad dimes in AU. WHY? And why slab MS coins that jump from $1 in MS-63 all the way up to $2 in MS-65?

 

I need literally hundreds of coins that cost a few bucks or less for my various collections, and am content with the idea of searching them out "in the raw". But I just can't stand the idea of paying $15 for a coin that should cost me $3. And it's just because some fool somewhere was willing to pay $12 in slabbing fees.

 

Rant over!!!!!!!!

 

Rant inducer:

 

[lehigh96]

I have three pet peeves.

 

First: I hate when people proclaim a coin AT/NT without giving a reason behind their opinion.

 

Second: The phrase "buy the coin not the plastic" is way overused. To the advanced collector, this is sound advice. However, there are many more novice and inexperienced collectors than advanced collectors. The novices don't have the grading skills required to critique the opinion of the TPG's. IMO, they should simply accept the plastic until they have seen enough coins and gained enough experience to actually buy the coin, not the plastic.

 

For example, I posted a photo of this coin on another forum the other day without the TPG label. One of the members graded the coin MS61. Now, if he actually thinks an MS61 Morgan looks like this, he needs to just trust whatever grade the TPG assigns until he learns more about grading.

 

 

Third: I hate when collectors criticize others new acquisitions by telling them overpaid after comparing the sale price to a price guide. If your goal as a collector is to obtain every coin you buy at greysheet or below, you might as well become dealer. I often pay retail or above because that is what the coin is worth to me at that time. I don't collect coins to make money or as an investment. I collect coins because I love them and if I lose money when I sell them, I consider that the price I paid to enjoy owning that particular coin.

[WoodenJefferson]

The flippers and the dealers and the collectors who submit coins only to find out they will NOT GRADE do to some type of damage, tooling, corrosion, and all the other reasons coins get rejected.

 

These sellers turn right around on e-bay and tout the coin like it’s been the best one they have ever seen with grainy slightly out of focus pictures with a description that would leave you thinking that this coin was tonged directly from the coining chamber and put into packaging.

 

When you get the coin home and look at it, your first impression is thought it may have rolled around in the bottom of Boudreaux’s pirogue during the recent duck hunting season.

 

Then comes the task of trying to get the coin back to the owner, the one who does not want it back, so you can retrieve even a smaller portion of your hard earned money.

 

It’s a tug-o-war with a pit full of MS-70 and it looks like it’s been drug through there a few times too!

 

So goes the saga of Boddy Bagged coins ready for sale on e-bay.

 

[Bugmann1974]

Third: I hate when collectors criticize others new acquisitions by telling them overpaid after comparing the sale price to a price guide. If your goal as a collector is to obtain every coin you buy at greysheet or below, you might as well become dealer. I often pay retail or above because that is what the coin is worth to me at that time. I don't collect coins to make money or as an investment. I collect coins because I love them and if I lose money when I sell them, I consider that the price I paid to enjoy owning that particular coin.

 

[BillJones]

Third: I hate when collectors criticize others new acquisitions by telling them overpaid after comparing the sale price to a price guide. If your goal as a collector is to obtain every coin you buy at greysheet or below, you might as well become dealer. I often pay retail or above because that is what the coin is worth to me at that time. I don't collect coins to make money or as an investment. I collect coins because I love them and if I lose money when I sell them, I consider that the price I paid to enjoy owning that particular coin.

 

 

Well I suppose, but you don't get anywhere by paying stupid prices either.

 

There was once a company in Boston called “Rare Coins of America” that sold “investment portfolios” at wildly inflated prices. For example when a Boston dentist sold his “investment portfolio” of coins, the best deal he made was $3,500 for a 1911-D quarter eagle for which he had paid $4,500. More typical was a “Select BU” shield nickel (that was really an AU) for which he paid $1,550.00. I bought it off a bid wall (a bid wall that had items on it like Chain Cents and 1796 Quarters from time to time) for $45.00.

 

Thank goodness the Federal Trade Commission shut this company down and the owners were convicted of fraud.

 

I agree that one should not expect to buy properly graded, certified coins for the Gray Sheet prices, but that does not mean that you throw away every price guide and become totally gullible. You need to learn to grade coins, and then you need to study the market. You also need to look at the price history of some coins, including many modern issues. It’s not fun becoming a lemming who dives off the cliff only to find that you are not soaring in the air but actually landing on the rocks below.

 

[lehigh96]

Third: I hate when collectors criticize others new acquisitions by telling them overpaid after comparing the sale price to a price guide. If your goal as a collector is to obtain every coin you buy at greysheet or below, you might as well become dealer. I often pay retail or above because that is what the coin is worth to me at that time. I don't collect coins to make money or as an investment. I collect coins because I love them and if I lose money when I sell them, I consider that the price I paid to enjoy owning that particular coin.

 

 

Well I suppose, but you don't get anywhere by paying stupid prices either.

 

There was once a company in Boston called “Rare Coins of America” that sold “investment portfolios” at wildly inflated prices. For example when a Boston dentist sold his “investment portfolio” of coins, the best deal he made was $3,500 for a 1911-D quarter eagle for which he had paid $4,500. More typical was a “Select BU” shield nickel (that was really an AU) for which he paid $1,550.00. I bought it off a bid wall (a bid wall that had items on it like Chain Cents and 1796 Quarters from time to time) for $45.00.

 

Thank goodness the Federal Trade Commission shut this company down and the owners were convicted of fraud.

 

I agree that one should not expect to buy properly graded, certified coins for the Gray Sheet prices, but that does not mean that you throw away every price guide and become totally gullible. You need to learn to grade coins, and then you need to study the market. You also need to look at the price history of some coins, including many modern issues. It’s not fun becoming a lemming who dives off the cliff only to find that you are not soaring in the air but actually landing on the rocks below.

 

Bill,

 

I am certain that you know what my point was and that you are just playing devils advocate. I agree that collectors should not be lemmings, and should learn about grading, market conditions & pricing. Let me give a specific example of what I am talking about. The coin shown below is a 1941-D Jefferson Nickel NGC MS67 5FS. PCGS price guide is $185 and the average auction price for this issue is about $135. If anyone thinks they are going to obtain the coin shown below for less than $200, they are crazy. I paid moon money for this coin and don't regret it one bit. I paid what it was worth to me. Other Jefferson collectors might hate this coin and not even bid $200, which is fine. My pet peeve is when those collectors tell me I overpaid for the coin.

 

 

Please understand that I am not condoning auction fever or registry fever. But when a coin hit hits that market and calls to you, passing on the coin because a price guide says your overpaying is just silly IMO.

[EZ_E]

One of my major pet peaves that irritates me to no end is the ridiculous premiums attached to varieties because of minor nuances in design or date. One extreme example is the 1817/4 half that was found in land fill. It is a problematic coin that should only be worth a hundred bucks, yet, because it is soooo "rare", it now brings three hundred grand.

 

As a type collector, I want the best coin that I can find for the buck but so many early types are priced out of my league because of some silly variety attached to it.