Latest eBay BIN "gamble"...

Okay, here are some shots of the 78-CC and 97-O.

First, a shot with both, to try to convey how dark the 78-CC is:



The 78-CC's toning has this weird, almost waxy look, which I haven't yet been able to capture well in a photo. You can see a hint of it around the tip of the olive branch and the nearby part of the wreath above.

Closer shots:





I first thought "polished and retoned", but if you look closely under a strong light, the luster is still there. I'm not sure what do do with this one. Stakes are low, though, I guess; it's pretty common for a CC, and certainly not high-MS.

 

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The 97-O actually had me wondering for a bit whether it might make MS, but I'm pretty sure I see wear on the high points, especially on the obverse. Plenty of luster, though; I've shot it under directed light and ambient light, but I don't have the right setup to really emphasize luster. I'll show both pairs of shots here.









This one has me excited. In higher grades, it's a pretty valuable coin, and I think the "crustiness" is really nice. It's a shame about that hit to the eyebrow, but I'm thinking there are several things keeping this from the stratosphere anyhow -- hits, wear, the fact that it's actually in my possession.

ANACS will be coming to the local show at the end of the month, and I'm gathering coins to submit if the special is good. I'm pretty sure this one will go, and I'm thinking about the 78-CC as well.

 

Nice score on both.
If there's any wear it is minimal but has a shot IMO.
Nice coin even at AU though (tough date in either grade).
But seems as though these 2 coins pays for almost a third of what you got the whole lot for.
Nicely done.

 

Nice finds. That said, in my opinion if one buys enough "unsearched" lots said person will come out on the short end. Nobody sells coins without looking at them. It is possible to have something slip by but this "unsearched" scam has become so prevalent it has even shown up on the Coin Vault. The people that do these auctions are thieves, vagabonds, and liars. You may have come out ahead this time but for your victory there are a hundred victims.

 

Oh, for sure, there are thousands of "unsearched lots" listed on eBay for every one like this. I'm not buying those lots, though. Note that the word "unsearched" didn't appear anywhere in this listing.

I've talked at length here about one or two big wins I've had on odd lots. I've gambled on a few that turned out to be worth only the money I spent, or sometimes even a little less. But I'm very conservative in what I bid on, and what I bid on it. (You should see some of the lots on which I was the second-highest bidder!) As a result, the good stuff I post here is just about all the good stuff; there's no way I could make a living at this, because lightning just doesn't strike often enough.

(Actually, as I'm between jobs right now, I'm giving that a bit more thought than usual. If I can get some of the distractions off my plate, I might try a few multi-hour sessions of BIN camping, and see whether prospects have improved any. But it would take a lot to make me consider giving up a day job, especially one more meaningful than "bargain-hunting".)

 

As I said, good job. You put the time and effort in and it paid off. You are right about not saying "unsearched" though many, as I did, may very well see it without seeing it. I like this hobby so much that the thought of those hucksters taking advantage of the young or gullible really bugs me.

 

There's plenty of scores out there to be had,but due diligence is the key.
This particular lot was really a no brainer just based on the melt value.

Due diligence is the key to the winning or losing.
When you first posted this I saw it as nothing less than cherry picking 101 mainly because an average roll of silver dollars sells for $375-$400 or more.
That being said I think you could build a nice side business based mostly on your frugal buying practices you stated.

 

Mmmaybe, but based on the time I've spent and the wins I've had, spending 40 hours a week on this would yield me perhaps a few hundred dollars a month. Lots of fun, but not, as they say in my field, scalable. It would be an entertaining way to go hungry, but my family would object.

 

Yeah family comes first for sure.
A couple hours a night/day 3-4 days a week you can build a nice collection for almost nothing.
Knowing the market and who's buying what helps alot also.

 

Actually, it wasn't even that.

Getting the lot represented a bit of persistence (keep camping on the right search), coupled with a bit of luck (making it through Buy It Now on $850+ worth of silver for $732 before someone else spotted it and made it through checkout).

These coins? Blind luck. I could see that there were Morgans (and a couple of Peace dollars) in the listing, but I could barely make out the dates on them, and there were no reverse shots. At the BIN price, it didn't matter; it's not like I could've gotten through checkout more quickly if I'd known there were semi-keys there.

If it had been a normal auction, it would've been bid higher. If there had been obverse and reverse images, it would've been bid much higher -- probably higher than its actual value, because at that point there would've been people gambling on the best-case outcome (no cleaned coins, MS key dates) instead of assuming the worst. Of course, the "winner" might have tried to do a return after seeing the coins in-hand.