POST A COIN YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT...

[coinman_23885]

Inspired by another thread, I thought this could be educational. Be sure to state why you wish you had never purchased the piece(s).

 

 

[orifdoc]

OK,

 

I'll take a stab at it.

 

I've been working on a Peace Dollar set for about 3 years now. In November of 2011 I was still missing several coins and was having a hard time finding a 1927-D. I rarely visited Teletrade but I went there for some reason and saw one.

 

It was PCGS MS64 with a CAC bean. The photos weren't fantastic. I could tell it was toned, but it looked OK. PCGS Price Guide at the time was $850. CAC Peace dollars were retailing around full guide price at the time and I decided to bid on it. I won it for $834 which seemed reasonable.

 

Teletrade was in the middle of a move at the time and the coin got lost in the shuffle for a little over a month. When I finally got it, I opened it up and was immediately shocked at how dark & fugly it was. It looked nothing like the rest of my set and frankly I was surprised it had beaned. When I got home and looked at it under good light it was obvious that it had nice luster beneath the toning and very few marks. Still, it wasn't what I was looking for - not even close.

 

I took it to a Long Beach and showed it to Larry Shapiro. His response was something like "Yikes", which was about what I expected. He was not a buyer. Neither was anyone else.

 

It sat in my set for a few months, driving me crazy. I finally threw it up on eBay where it amazingly brought $850. After paying PP & seller fees I lost a few bucks & chalked it up to cheap education.

 

I learned:

 

1) Don't trust photos.

2) Don't bid without looking at it first, having a trusted agent look at it, or a solid return privilege.

3) Just because something is in the "right" plastic & has a bean doesn't mean I'll like it.

4) Just because something has a bean doesn't mean it will be liquid.

5) Many people appreciate toning, but this rarely applies to Peace Dollars.

6) Patience. Nicer 27-D coins do show up occasionally.

 

I suppose sooner or later I would have made a similar mistake somewhere. I was very, very lucky to get so much for it when I sold it. I do still wonder how it would dip out. Better to have sold it to someone who likes it, I suppose.

 

Here are a few photos of it and the one I replaced it with:

 

 

 

[okbustchaser]

Nothing against this coin, per say, but since buying it (my first 1827) I now own well over 100 of the same date.

[AcesKings]

Bought this one at a local coin auction. I only had low resolution pics off the internet to judge it from, as they didn't have a viewing time before the auction. After buying it and seeing the rim ding and scratches everywhere on it, I went home and took another look at their pics, the rim ding was there (though not very obvious), but not the scratches. Taught me to look very close at ANY possible purchase based on pics and made me very leery of buying anything based solely on them!!!

 

 

 

 

[TD Henson]

This happens all too often if you buy from the Internet. Some sellers have figured the art of picture taking to effectively hide just about all imperfections.

 

This bust half dime was being sold as choice BU gem - straight on it has great luster, but... turn it about 30 degrees and it was butt ugly. In this case I sent it right back...

 

[TD Henson]

Here's another one - this one was certified by PCGS as MS 66 FT - 1973 P Roosevelt Dime. Replaced it with an NGC coin that was solid for the grade. The PCGS coin in my mind shouldn't even have received a grade - let alone MS 66 FT. Kept it for awhile and then resold as a questionable MS 66 for probably a $30 loss, but hated it the whole time I owned it.

 

PCGS coin is on the right and the NGC coins is on the left - I think it's obvious they aren't the same grade.

 

 

Check out the blow ups - if you don't see it above. A scratch in front of the ear and a wheel mark on the PCGS coin - which should have precluded a grade...

 

 

Glad to be rid of this piece of crud...

[copper toning]

Orifidoc your replacement is much nicer. I also agree with much of what you learned