Right now, I have my eye on two different coins from two different dealers. Both silver, and both are roughly the same price (around $250) Coin 1 is from the early 19th century, low mintage year, raw, around G4, doesn't look like it has any issues. Coin 2 is from the mid 20th century, fairly common date and mint, PCGS gold shield graded MS66, with very nice toning. Which one would you buy?
As an admirer of all things bright and shinny (Much like our friend the common crow) and also of high grade, I suggest coin 2......
My coin purchases for some time have been strictly slabbed (raw only when knowing that I would get it graded). I voted for coin number two (2).
Overall, I prefer circulated coins and do not intentionally collect high grade MS coins so it would be the old one for me.
For almost all of the time, I would pick the early coin, but "-G-4" with no problems raw, is not a good fit for me. I usually buy higher grade material, or I don't buy it all. That said, I'm not a grade snob. I bought this 1795 half cent with rim issues because it was struck on a large cent planchet with a lot of the undertype showing from the host coin. I would caution you that just because something is old, well circulated and raw does not make it "safe." When I was a dealer, I bought a 1798 dime, which was raw, from a dealer. It graded Fine or so. I sold it to a costomer who sent it to ANACS. It came back "bad." The dealer had purchased this piece from a major auction house. It got through me, the dealer and the auction house which had plenty of experts. I had to look at it for a long time with a 10X glass before I saw the problems, which didn't "scream out" to anyone. To the auction house's credit. They reembursed the dealer months after the sale because the piece was a counterfeit. All I'm saying is that "raw" can be dangerous even on low grade stuff.
That largely depends on what my goals for my collection are. Do either of these fit a set that I am trying to build? Do either of these go cohesively with some theme I'm pursuing? Am I just buying what I like when I see something that strikes my fancy? Is one a better value, or predicted to hold its value better, or maybe even increase? Am I attracted to the look of one versus the other? Only you can answer these questions. These are such wildly different coins that I don't think I could pick one over the other unless I knew more about your collection and your goals.
None without seeing them! Let us know the type @The Meat man, we don't need to know who the dealer is and then we can decide. The permutations are endless and I can think of wonderful graded coins that I would not pick up off the street and then iconic ancients that would really get my adrenalin running. We could be considering a really rare USA circulation coin compared to a Chinese Gold Panda coin here. Also don't get het up about raw, the Chinese copy anything and in years to come we may be safer buying raw than looking at slab grades like lemmings jumping over cliffs. My maxim is buy the coin and not the plastic and if you buy from a dealer or decent auction house you can always have it graded although I have a couple of nightmare stories about grading medieval coins. I have to say this is a great intriguing post and you have piqued my interest and I look forward to your reveal.
That's kinda scary. And while I feel like I have a decent eye for spotting problem ancient coins, I know very little about when it comes to moderns. Cool half-cent, by the way.
I don't really have a collection goal. Just whatever catches my fancy. I do like rare coins, and I'm also partial to nice colorful toning. With these two coins, it's essentially a question between rarity/age and aesthetics. I like both qualities, hence the difficulty in deciding!
Really "rare coins" can be dangerous place to go when you are learning. I've often heard the advice "buy the key date coins first" when you are building a set. The theory is that the prices always to up on those so it it's better to get the rare ones first. First, that has not been true over the last 12 to 13 years. I know by experience because I have bought some really rare stuff, like an 1808 (key one year type coin, about 150 known) quarter eagle, which went down and has only recovered some in the last five years. Second, if you learning making a mistake because of grading can cost you lot of money. And don't think that buying slabs will save you. You are dependent on their grading guarantees. It's better to make a mistake on cheap coin than an expensive one.
