What was your best buy or sell?

One of my best buys, told here before, was the purchase of a 1909 S Lincoln. Now in an NGC slab F-12, 1909s VDB. Cost? $40, plus the cost of the slab.

Also, recently an eBay purchase of a 1909 S, mediocre pictures, bought as an AU.
Now in an ANACS MS-63, RB, S over horizontal S slab.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yep, that sort of thing is why I don't always speak up anymore when people shout "never bid on auctions with bad photos!!!" The more people following that rule, the less competition for us.

 

LOL - just don't complain on the board when you get scammed by it once. Besides Frank said mediocre pictures - not bad.

 

Bought a complete Jefferson nickel dansco album for just over the face, pulled the 1946 S to send to PCGS, came back 66FS. Sold it for $800. So it really only cost me $40 or so with grading.

 

Recently bought a large amount of old aussie pennies. Looking through I found 4 1920 2 dots. Each of these would be worth $30-50. I paid maybe 60 cents for each. Haven't sold them yet so we'll see.

 

You all are disgusting. I can never spend that kind of money.......my wife would kill me !

 

And you still have the war nickels plus the 1950D, you did great.

So, don't tell her.

 

Kinda bad pics story: I took a chance on a lot of 30+ Ikes that were listed as being in bank rolls, kept in a safe, since the late 70s by a late grandparent or something. They definitely looked nice in the photos but were taken in lots at a distance. Anyways, I saw something right away with one of these Ikes' reverses. I must have stared at the photos for 2 hours, using zoom, rotating my laptop and flipping it upside down to see different angles, etc. I even used different photo editing programs to change the contrast, the saturation, almost everything it could do, in hopes of seeing just a bit more. After all this I was about 50% sure that I was indeed seeing a 1972 type 2 in the lot. So I bought them for 3-4x FV IIRC. I was kind of worried when I was told some coins had banged around when opening the rolls to photograph. Kinda worried.

Anyways, package arrives and I'm nervously excited. I went through the lots, almost all were solid BU with nice even golden toning (only 2-3 were less than MS). Then I arrived at a solid run of about 10-12 1972 Ikes and they were NICE. And then it happened. A Type 2 in what I thought was MS-63 easy jumped out at me. YES! My hands were shaking. Then, holy heck, while still in a bit of shock, I found FOUR more Type 2s, all equally as good, with 2 of them being super CLEAN. Yea. Five Type 2s out of 30. I could barely get them in 2x2s bc my hands were a tad shaky

Then they sat for a few months in their 2x2s and I finally got the urge to send them in for grading (my first and only TPG submission BTW). I sent them off to PCGS and checked my email everyday. Then finally the grades were posted online. I had to have someone else confirm that I was reading it correctly. Yep. I was. MS-65, MS-64, MS-64, MS-65, MS-64. OMG. Glad I got them Tru-viewed too as they were up on Coinfacts, mingling with the top dogs. I think 7 are at MS-66. I'll take mine happily tho.

It was so much fun MAKING a grade. Finding a gem (or 2) and knowing you found that new material. It was indeed a thrill. I was originally going to post on here with my own thread, but why not now, here. I've just been sitting on them for a few weeks trying to figure out my next move. I don't know if I'll send them in for secondary grading (CAC, QA) as I've already got a decent amount tied up in submitting these and am kinda paranoid about sending these out into the mail again! (unless it's to a buyer LOL). Either way here's one as it sits today:



So that was my best buy and, hopefully, will be my best sell

 

Don't kid yourself; any real 1836 Gobrecht dollar would have never closed on ebay for $178. You and your "friend" avoided a fake.

 

The Trade Dollar is a great find. I have a suggestion for you. You might consider sending it to Allen Stockton as he's a magician when it comes to coin repair. I've sent him a few to be repaired and am always amazed at the job he does. If you have any interest I can send you some before and after photos of ones he's done for me. Regards, Mike.

 

Edit

 

Congrats on one heckuva score my man! This just proves we can never know too much about our field of interest can we!....

 

I think people got scared because the seller was from Russia and didn't offer returns. it was also the sellers first auction so he had 0 feedback at the time.

 

People got scared because it was fake. PayPal would make anyone whole in the events you described.

 

I appreciate the tip, but this is about the last coin I'd consider submitting for that treatment.

First, the coin is massively impaired. Besides the hole and the engraving, it's worn and dinged down to XF details level, and the wire rim is mashed. It still has characteristics that distinguish it from a business strike, but it's never going to resemble an unimpaired proof.

Second, the damage tells a story. There are lots of impaired and even holed proofs out there, but I haven't encountered any others engraved "Buffington Thanksgiving". Someone put deliberate thought into this; maybe someday I'll learn who, and why.

Stockton's name has come up here in the past. While "coin doctoring" is usually held in bad odor here, I think there's a place for serious restoration work, as long as it's not done with intent to defraud. Just not on this piece.

 

My story is about sadness that turned in happiness. I purchased a couple of ASE's on E-bay that went for about $23 each and when I went to pay for it I got an e-mail from the seller. I figured out later that it was the wife of the seller. She asked me if she could ask me a questionS about coins. I told her yes of course and was pleased to help her in any way I could.

She told me a very sad story. Her husband had died of lung cancer (after smoking for over 50 years) and he had amassed a large coin collection that includes U.S. Gold and Foreign Silver coins. He had collected for over 55 years and died at the age of 79. She told me her name was Nancy and they had a little girl that died in an accident when she was 7 years old.

She basically told me that she had no idea what to do with all the coins her husband left behind and the coins that were on E-bay were a batch that she was mailing out to their new owners. I told her that she could contact companies like Heritage Rare Coins Auctions or Stack Bower's Galleries. i told her that these companies would help her sort out the collection and get the most bang for the buck.

I asked her if she remembered the local coin dealer that her husband must have conducted business with over the years. She said yes. I told her that if she trusted him that she should go and talk to him about selling her husband's collection. We talked on the phone for about an hour and she thanked me for my kindness in her time of sorrow. I told her no problem and offered her my condolences for her loss. Her husband's name was Ralph.

Anyways, about a week or so later I got a package from her. I opened up the package looking for my ASE's. The ASE's were there and guess what else was there. A 2012 1 oz. Gold American Eagle!!! with a thank you note. I was floored and in shock for a good 10 seconds. I immediately e-mailed her back telling her she made a mistake and that I could NO WAY accept such a gift.

She would not stand for it and insisted I keep it as a small token of her appreciation for a few kind words of advice. I thanked her and GOD. I guess it goes to show you what a little bit of kindness can do. So my (2) ASE purchase for about $50 turned out to be a LOT more than I had expected. Thank you and enjoy what remains of your day!

 

1893 XF Morgan for $9.95 with shipping, resold for $200 with shipping. Next a 1876 IHC close to G, if not maybe a decent AG for $3 with shipping. The sellers listed there starting bid as a BIN by mistake and shipped it anyhow.
Why I never cancel a sale if I screw up and under price something, good enough for me to pick, good enough for others.

 

Beautiful! I could never sell such a thing! Good call on not telling the dealer; that would be a slap in the face for sure.