Advice wanted and needed:

Where to start....new to coin collecting after 20 year hiatus. Where is the best place to buy coins? I notice that most of the places I see coins for sale that they are listed for well above the prices listed in the red book. What about buying from e-Bay? Would you stay away from uncertified coins on e-bay? Where are the best prices? Is the red book a reliable reference? What are the most reputable on-line places to buy coins? I am sure I will have many more questions, but this is a good start. Glad to share my plans for collecting.

 

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Red Book is a good source for information, but not for prices. I would not use the prices listed there.

A good way to price coins is using auction sales prices from Heritage Auctions. You can sign up for free and look through their archives. eBay isn't a bad place to buy but sometimes prices go way high so keep an eye out for that.

I prefer to only buy certified coins when buying online because I can't see the coin in hand. I would say...if they are graded by anybody but PCGS or NGC, consider the coin raw.

 

Red Book is not a reliable source of current coin values, more valuable for information and to know if one coin is worth more than another. Grey Sheet comes closest to reliable information, but items are always worth what anyone will pay for them.

 

Knowledge is the key. Find an interest and read up on it. There are so many types of collectors and it can be disorienting.

Check out a few local coin shops. E-bay is ok for certified coins with high quality pictures.

 

Love the Yankee42. Yankee household here. Have personally met Mariano. Son has Mariano Fathead in his room.

 

Welcome to CT and back into the obsession of coin collecting!! Okay, maybe I'm the only one obsessed with it....lol.

Seems you have a Red Book, so that's a good start. Pricing is unreliable, but the other information is priceless!

I can't recommend an online site to purchase coins as it all depends on what coins you want to buy and how much you are wanting to spend. As you clearly stated, eBay pricing seems to be high at the moment, but that doesn't mean you can't find some nice coins at good prices. I would NEVER buy high dollar raw coins from eBay. The most I spent on a raw coin on eBay was $500 and I was very happy when it graded at NGC. Fortunately, I'm not underwater on the coin either. So Yeah for me! Unfortunately, I bought another coin from the same seller, spent a lot less money on it, but it came back as UNC Details: Improperly Cleaned! I haven't purchased a raw coin over $30 on eBay in about a year and will keep it that way.

The two gorillas in the grading business are: NGC and PCGS. If you stick with coins in their holders, you'll be safe. That's not to say you can't find a nice coin in an ANACS slab, but fair market value is typically only given to the top 2. The other TPG's will be discounted when you go to sell.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions you might have; however, I'm not an expert, but I'll happily give you my best educated opinion.

 

I think your thoughts on ANACS and other TPGs are spot on. You can find good coins in their holders, but they are known for over grading and thus you really need to be very careful. I would use whatever rules you set yourself for raw coins on any coin that is not in a PCGS or NGC slab.

 

I have found two good local auctions houses. One does three a year through a large dealer in the area and the other does once a month on his own. You can see the coins locally before bidding, which can't be done on an online auction. You can still bid that way however. I have picked up several pieces substancially under their usual selling price this way. It works best for collectable items $150-$200 and up. Both auctions don't have a buyers fee associated with them either.

 

On the topic of untrusted TPG's, this might be informative:

http://coinauctionshelp.com/Coin_Help_Blog/the-top-coin-grading-services-to-avoid-like-a-disease/

There used to be a lot of coins in these (and other) obscure holders offered on eBay, really a deceptive practice that I understand is not so widespread there anymore. But I still see this sort of thing turn up in pawn shops (rarely in any reputable coin shop, though).

Besides the emergence of eBay as a market for collector coins, another thing that has happened over the last 20 years is the rise of Chinese counterfeiters (including sometimes fake "PCGS" and "NGC" slabs), who often use (abuse) eBay to export their nefarious products. This is something you'll need to get up to speed on before spending too much.

 

I am curious about this comment, so may I ask what types you're referring to?

Anyway, as asked, your question is rather general, so you're going to receive general answers. Not that this is a bad thing, but the devil is in the details.

 

Thanks for all of the advice so far. To start I will tell you that the collection I had been building since I was a kid was stolen in 2010. It was nothing spectacular and in the recent years, the main things I was buying were Silver Eagles and silver proof sets with the state quarters. I had bought a Silver Eagle every year since they came out. And I had bought the silver proof sets every year since the state quarters started, so I think I had the complete set. It always bugged me that my coin collection was stolen and took my enthusiasm away. I am not one to dwell so I moved on. But I always loved the Silver Eagles (avatar). So my first purchase was a complete set of MS-69 Silver Eagles. That has fueled my enthusiasm again. Also I have since realized that my tiny little collection had to have been worth at least $5000. So now I am starting over and have decided to take this approach: I want to start with US Half Dollars; I want to buy only XF40 or better (maybe slightly less); the main thing is I want to be able to clearly read "LIBERTY"; will start with getting one of every type of half dollar; I have identified 1892-O Barber Half, 1852-O Seated Liberty Half, 1839 Capped Bust Reverse Half, and 1916 Waling Liberty Half. I would be interested in buying a complete set of AU or BU Franklin Half Dollars, but I can't find a complete set.

Any comments, advice, or suggestions on anything I mentioned here?

 

Try Great Collections. They have weekly auctions, low BP, fast shipping and excellent customer service. They should have all these coins in those grades on a regular basis. It doesn't mean every deal is a good one, just that they'll have plenty of auction material to choose from.

 

I need some help on how to use this website. Where and how is the best place to ask questions? There are so many topics of conversation and "threads" and they seem out of order by date. Not even sure if I am reaching anyone since this post may not even have people see this. If I want to ask a specific question, where is the best place and how do I do it?

 

If your question is about a specific U.S. Coin, then start a thread in this forum. If you want to ask general questions about coins, the hobby, et al, then go to the Coin Chat forum and start a thread. It's easy.

The threads that were replied to float to the top in chronological order. So if you were to go find a 2 year old thread, which might be on page 20 of the forum, and reply to it, it jumps to page 1.

 

As far as getting answers to postings, I still chuckle when I see someone post a question and then post again an hour later lamenting the fact that their question had not been responded to yet.

 

It would be hard to find any graded barber halfs xf or better for less then red book. They usually sell for more then grey sheet ask. Some barber halfs u can't get anywhere in the ballpark of book value.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying raw coins on eBay. I would stay away from heavily counterfeited coins and high dollar ones though. Buy from someone with a lot of transactions and positive feedback. Exercise the return policy when you are not happy or completely satisfied with your purchase. eBay policy is favorable to a buyer, so you so not have much, if anything to lose.

 

lol geek. My intention wasn't to self-promote!
There are other members here with raw coins as well.
For example:
lottofmotts
bkozak

I never really understood peoples bad juju about buying raw coins from eBay.
It's a beautiful thing in my opinion. You get to look at the coin, in hand, for days and decide if you like it. Nothing to lose.

 

Greg is right. You can find lots of affordable raw coins on ebay. And yes you do have to watch the feedback, I try to stick to the sellers with 99% or higher. I read the feedback, particularly any negative ones. In over 500 transactions in the last couple years I've only had a couple bad ones, and only had to put in 1 or 2 claims. Recently I had one where the seller sent me the wrong coin, I sent it back and he immediately sent me the right one.

I've purchased from a number of folks that are here and always had positive experience. I have nothing but good to say about it these days.