Let's say, hypothetically, I have a "friend." And let's say the "friend" continues to go back to the idea of building a Lincoln cent collection. This "friend" has decided to start off with the memorial series, all BU and build a nice varied, but somewhat higher grade (VF or higher with a few noticable exceptions) wheat set. While searching and researching memorials he notices that buying these memorial cents individually at the dealer may not be the best of ideas as the price is too great per coin. So, while searching Ebay (yeah, I warned him that would be a dangerous occupation for the mind fleeting with collection envy) he notices he could by a "BU" or "Red" collection of his choice encompassing years '59-2010 with the '60 P and D small and large dates and the seven varieites of '82. Here's his current questions: 1.) Is such a description of all "Red" plausible or realistic to expect from a seller? Can a coin be graded MS 63 or higher with multiple "carbon" spots? If the coins are BU, is their fair amount of risk of lowering this grade from the loading, transporting, and unloading of these coins in tubes? 2.) What's a reasonable price for a 120 coin set such as this? 3. I, I mean my friend, is under the assumption that since these coins were produced by the billions each year, quality strike is probably especially difficult, most notably on the reverse with the details of the columns, steps, pushes, corners of the memorial, etc. If a seller is offering such a set, all high quality coins over 50 years, yes? Thanks for all opinions on this hypothetical scenario.
1) Don't rush. Buy from auctions that have "all the right stuff"... *Many large and CLEAR pics... or at least a seller willing to send you these on request. *A seller with a number of sales under their belt. *A seller with 100% feedback, or VERY near that, with the buyer's time spent on reading why the feedback isn't 100%. *A seller in the continental U.S. *A seller without a large amount of rules or 'fine print' to their auctions. If you are cautious, you will probably be satisfied with your seller. Don't buy the first set you see. 2) Don't know the answer there. I never bought a 'set' of these... That 'sounds' a bit high to me unless every single coin is high grade and possibly including proofs, as well as a quality album such as a Dansco. I could be wrong though. ??? 3)Not sure what you're asking on this one, but I would say that if he wants 'perfection', then buying a set off eBay is probably not going to please him. Not saying he can't find a good set, but your 3rd comment makes it sound like he will be hypercritical, therefore may be better off putting a set togther one coin at a time.
Ebay is the route to take. Buy them individually, not in large groups. If you buy in a large group, you'll likely pay a premium for the same coin.
1. Is BU collection possible? I would say yes (my memorial cent is) 2. Can a coin have carbon spots and be graded..I say yes again and have seen it. 3. Is there a fair amount of risk of lowering this grade fomr load/unloading these coins in tubes? Yes if they are not probably stored...i.e if the cents in the tubes have room to move/dropped etc.. 4. I would first make sure there is a 70-s Small Date if there isn't honestly I wouldnt pay much for them especially since he can do some roll searching and still find many BUs (I can get most BU modern lincolns for around 10 cents each). Better yet buy all mint sets and he can have a completed penny/dime/kennedy half collection and almost completed Nickel and Quarter (cost more but at least you will know they will be all UNCs. 5.Not understanding your last question "if a seller is offering such a set, all high quality coins over 50 years, yes?.. are you asking if it would be worth it? If that is your question, then I probably say no..roll search and you wont have a lot of trouble
In all honesty, here was the one I was thinking (though I have saved five different auctions as potential purchases). http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310284104086&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT It has everything but the 70 S small date. The seller has sold MULTIPLE sets with only one complaint, which makes me wonder how he has so many sets. As far as quality, I keep thinking that even if 20% were extremely spotted, worn, or damaged that's only about 24 coins. $30 didn't seem too much when most of them individually are P and D for $1-$2. Again, as always, thoughts are welcomed.
There are a number of reputable dealers that can fill your, I mean your friends order for BU Memorial cents. Larger dealers have rolls of each date/mint mark coin. They simply take one from each roll. Yes, you can buy each coin individually from eBay as recommended above, keep in mind you will pay postage for each coin ordered this way. Don't be in a rush to buy this set, investigate, review Coin World and other good publications for candidate dealers to do business with. The seller on the link you provided has a 99.8% positive rating. I'm willing to bet you can find a dealer with a 100% rating to do business with if you decide to go the eBay route. You can always ask here about any dealer you have questions about.
1) Yes, the coins will all be MS red from MS-60 up. Don't worry about damage from shipping as a roll. They will be fine, these are not high-grade coins.....there's really no "risk" or damage. 2) $30-40 I do recommend this as a starter set. It makes it a LOT easier than trying to go find individual coins....that will take YEARS to do. Not to mention most dealers don't have much to offer short of an occassional roll. It's not worth their time to mess with them, just ask any dealer. There's nothing wrong with buying them from ebay like this, I've purchased quite a few to cherrypick them. Heck, it's only $30 and he'll have them all instantly. The only problem he's going to have is that the vast majority will be subpar MS-63 or lower coins. There might be a few 64's and 65's here and there, but what do you expect for 30 bucks. LOL Building a high quality Memorial set is extremely challenging. I have 3x-4x more time invested in my Memorial set than my wheats!!!! The problems with Memorials: spotting, LDS, poor stikes and plenty of hits. Remember, most were produced in the billions so they used the dies forever and the hubs even started showing wear. If he's serious about building an HQ collection, he'll eventually end up replacing most of the coins. I've been at it HARD for years and I'm still not satisfied and...not to boast... my set is pretty much unreal at this point and it's still not perfect.
Here's an example of the quality I shoot for in a Memorial. None of the coins in the set will come close to this: http://www.cointalk.com/t159934/
I am not endorsing the seller, I have not even peeked at his negs, much less studied them as I normally would... However, I would point out that 99.8, while low end, is not out of the question IMO, for 5000 ratings. That looks like a decent auction on the surface. If it was me buying though, I would study it, and the seller, hard.
Indeed...that's a GREAT rating, as good as 100% for a 5000 seller. You have to remember that there's always going to be some bungholes that give lower rating justified or not. Let's not get paranoid, especially for a measly $30.
You said what I was thinking. I almost posted the same sentiment, but couldn't come up with a word quite as 'diplomatic' as "bunghole".
Thats a good deal and worth every penny. pun intended. It takes an hour to put one of those sets together! Whatta ya want fer nuthin? upgrade individual coins - if some aren't "good" enough. It is fairly easy to still get bank rolls and put together 50 BU memorial sets and this is what those sellers are doing/done.
