Help me pick out my next coin from these 3 choices

First, there is nothing wrong with buying an AU58. They are still high grade. I personally like AU coins. I like MS coins better. All I am saying is if grades are correct and price is the same I would almost always buy the MS coin over an AU. For me (and I would think most people), the biggest reason to buy an AU over MS is difference in price (value).

Assuming same date and type, if the AU58 sells for more than the MS61, then it's either one of two things:

1) The grades are inaccurate
2) Buyer "grades" the coin higher than the MS61 in their mind.

Don't confuse #2 for actual grade as per accepted Sheldon grading standards. I'm saying the buyers personal preference scale is not in line with Sheldon.

 

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Well they obviously have some problem that has them graded lower than MS65. Whatever that problem is though should be less than the AU58's problem(s). Assuming the grades are accurate as per Sheldon scale.

 

Again, grades are either inaccurate or this decision is based on value. The only other possibility is your sense of grading is different than that of the most widely accepted Sheldon scale.

 

Agreed. There are coins that I've picked up in AU that I believe, could easily go for '63.

And not based on Sheldon....based on ANA grading standards.

 

Isn't having minimal marks and good eye appeal part of the definition of an AU58, whereas an MS61 is allowed to have prominent marks with poor eye appeal?

 

Essentially, yes.

 

Drop that 63 (and 62 to a lesser extent) and I would respectfully disagree, but now you're also throwing "same price" into the equation, which goes against your original statement. Without specific examples we can only generalize, but I will tell you that from experience, a true slider will often offer superior eye appeal and sometimes value against a similar baggy low MS specimen of the same coin. The fact is that there are many who choose to look at a coin as the sum of it's parts instead of what it's technical grade may be. This, of course, does not even touch on market grading (which cuts into your theory of the higher number the better), but is another topic for another time.

 

I think part of the dilemma is that the Sheldon scale separates circulated from uncirculated only based on wear, which is only one of many factors affecting the desirability of a coin. Would everyone agree that both quarters in this thread are accurately graded, and that the AU58 is a more appealing coin even if price was left out of the equation?

 

I'd take a 58 that without a touch of wear but totally clean fields and devices that if totally uncirculated would be. A 64-66 over a 60-63 any day is not about price I like clean mark free coins and often that's the best choice. A great number of unc coins got beat around in bank bags so they didn't get wear but got the ever living crap beat outta them to me not appealing! While a lot of au coins got released circulated briefly then spen the next 100 years in a desk drawer or a jewelry box and had an easy life. Granted there's problem au coins and beat up ones. You just have to sort thru them as you do ms coins

 

Case in point first au -58 second au-55 you got a chalkenge to find ms coins better then either for eye appeal both picked up in the last 2 weeks

 

There's better deals to be had on AU-MS seated quarters. I'd wait and find one, like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1876-Seated...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Gotcha. I am with you in that grading is subjective. I'm pretty sure you remember my comments in the past criticizing grading companies and how they influence market prices with their gimmicks.

 

IMO, no...

 

I'm with you why it's important to know coins and know how to grade coins. When I started collecting there were no tpgs why u have zero problem buying raw coins if I can see them in hand. Why tpgs are good is insurance to know the coins your buying from pics are genuine and (hopefully) problem free

 

Yup. The internet made TPG's huge. Not that they weren't providing a needed service before the internet, but they went to a whole new level. So big in fact that PCGS is listed on NASDAQ. I think they deserve credit for making coin collecting more popular, but hopefully they also don't lead it to its destruction. Since they have shareholders, they are now "obligated" to make profit for them. Right now the hobby is on fire so all is well. Kind of reminds me of the baseball card collecting hobby when I was a kid. The problems will come (if they do) when the TPG's start coming up with all different types of gimmicks to make money for those shareholders. Shenanigans like different "special" labels, different holders, different sub-levels on grades (like +), different designations on labels, etc. Start doing too many of these gimmicks and people will just give up. What's the point of buying something "special" when something newer comes out every 6 months? Especially if the economy goes into a rut. Let's be honest here, collectors don't just collect for the sake of collecting. Many (as in most) buy their coins with the thought in mind that they will go up in value.

 

Here's one of my other recent AU-58s

 

Okay here's a thought...

If AU's are so great and as a result are becoming increasingly popular, then should they be selling for more than MS some day? Will that eventually happen you think? Then maybe even further into the future XF will be the new AU. And people will be falling over themselves to buy XF. After that F. Maybe this will continue until we reach zero. Then it goes back to MS as the "best" coin to buy. Or maybe we could add negative numbered grades to the scale.

 

Aaahhh, you devil you. Appropriately your mood is "devilish".

 

Why not? You would rather have the overdipped MS61 with dings and gouges all over it?

 

Not all MS61's are dipped...

but since we are going to make wild assumptions then...

you would rather buy that extremely overdipped AU with more dings than a MS?