Like last year, I'm back with some "duds" for the year. While there were some good additions and some fun coins that found new homes, there were also the stuff that missed the mark. Now these were still solid coins (for the most part) but each had a reason for being a "dud" for me. We start with a colorful silver eagle. There is debate on most silver eagles about them being artificial or natural but regardless, it looked nice to my eye. The issue here was paying up for the coin and then deciding to sell it once I wanted something else in the collection. For a while no one valued it the same as me. It sat around on eBay and the forums for most of the year. Finally, I was fortunate to break even on it at a coin show where one dealer liked it after seeing it in hand. A similar story is the case with this Morgan. It has an interesting fire/ice split toning pattern and solid colors. I picked it up at a show a few years ago for a strong price. I found out that price was a bit on the high side as it also sat around online throughout most of this year. It also sold at the same show as the Eagle above to a dealer that was buying up NGC star toned coins for a project (breakeven on this one-which I was very happy with given the higher price and the fact it was not moving). One more factor for this coin is that the in hand look is better than the photo, so that added to the difficulty of selling online.
At the end of the day we all have our moments of weakness and pursue something we quickly regret; on the other hand it sometimes goes the other way and you get something better or cheaper than you at first realize. I am talking about my 2025 coins in a different thread. If I put my coins together from the entire year there are 2 coins that stand out in this regard. I was desperate (and coin budget poor) at Birthday time last year so I ended up with an 1854 Arrows dime i would normally not consider. Then again, it is a standing rule in our family. I get a coin for my Birthday or go without any gift. I'll take it and keep it. I had something happen this year that has never happened before. I will sometimes place low level bids on sites such as Heritage just so I will be more aware of a specific coin I haven't decided on but don't want to have post auction regret. In this case I placed a $100 dollar bid on a coin when my intention had been to only bid $10 dollars. I am still baffled how this actually happened but have made changes to my bidding methods to prevent this happening again. Guess what? The bid turned out to be a spot on winning bid. It is just about exactly what the coin is worth when all fees and factors are considered. I will post the actual coin in my retrospect later on but even in a details holder (I only have 2 such coins in my collection),; this is a superior coin with fantastic luster & strike. I will talk more about my 1907-O barber dime later on. James
Thank you! I posted the best of the duds first. And these were attractive; the issue was the price paid and the difficulty of moving them while limiting any loss (these two were fortunate cases where I broke even).
There is definitely some moments of weakness. I have mentioned that in my past threads. While I tried to limit that in 2025, it still happened where I put in an extra bid where I should not have or wanted to win something after missing out on another coin. And like you said, it can work out too where something turns out better than expected (and I'm glad to have bid more than I initially wanted to).
Next up we have a category of coins instead of just one. This covers a handful of Questionable Color details coins slabbed by PCGS. I noticed a person on the PCGS forum advertising that he was selling these and I was intrigued. Quite a few people completely avoid details coins but not me. There are times when the TPGs are too harsh and one can find a decent deal. Other times the TPG is correct but there is still something attractive enough about the coin. I have run into both cases. One of my favorites (box of 20 coin) came from a details slab that later straight graded (I thought PCGS made a mistake and was rewarded by getting a straight grade). Another favorite will almost certainly stay in a details slab but it is an attractive coin (made my top 10 of 2022). Back to the group from this year. I picked up a handful of quarters and a Franklin thinking that some could straight grade on a good day and others might just be nice looking in hand. After receiving them in hand, I figured it was a long shot that any would straight grade and they were not as impressive (to my eye) as I had hoped. Plus the cost of grading was more than it was worth spending. The quarters were all relatively cheap (most under $25) while the Franklin cost somewhat more (about $65). I was able to sell all the quarters (for no real gain) but the Franklin has been a challenge to move. The good news is that I did purchase a details coin from this same collection that I really like (spoiler: might be a top 10 thread candidate). So I won't stop looking at details coins but I will try to be more discerning. Below is one example of the group that I mentioned.
To conclude the duds of 2025, we have another group of coins. These are all modern toners (modern being defined here as post-1964). I will show five in the photos below out of a total of 12 such examples. Pretty much all cost less than $50 and many were less than $20. There is nothing wrong with any of the coins. The issue here is that none were what I would call "keepers" for the collection. They did not unseat other coins I already had. That meant I sold all. Some moved quickly while others took a little longer. None were super profitable; the best gained me $10-$15 while others were a small hit. Adding in the time spent, I could have definitely done something more productive (but I do enjoy spending time on coins so I'm not complaining). Plus it gave me more material for this thread (not an intended outcome ).
I'm not sure what to make of that New York Quarter. I don't think I can ever remember seeing a coin with the reverse toned/obverse white. James
