Random Slabbed coins on the cheap?

Just wondering if anyone ever bites on those eBay listings where they are selling a whole bunch of slabbed coins and you get one at random. I've seen a bunch under $10 and was thinking of biting on 1 or 2 just because it seems cheap enough and I don't own any coins in a slab. Thoughts? If anyone has done this before how was the result?

 

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Why do you care to own something stuck in a plastic coffin just for the sake of having it in a plastic coffin?

 

Basically read what @ToughCOINS said.

I would add that you can find plenty of slabs on eBay (or other sources) for $10 or under that aren’t random (you can pick what you want/like) and that would be the better way to get something nice.

 

I started a PCGS slabbed Lincoln set with the pennies being MS66 or better, all with ebay slabs for $10 or less shipped. I'm working on wheat cents. Most start at .99 cents. I just bid $10 and if I win great. If I don't - there's always more coming down the line.

 

I almost never buy that "random date" stuff. Usually the seller will send you a coin in a slab that is low-end for the grade. I just pick out the coin myself, never from the "random" ebay listings.

 

I will occasionally hit pawn shops to see if I can pick up cheap silver change from them to add to my pile..... I was pleasantly surprised several weeks ago to step into a pawn shop to see his cases looked more like a coin shops cases. He had rows and rows of $10-$20 dollar slabbed pieces. Mostly all recent stuff which is not my cup of tea really.... It's just that ten bucks is still ten bucks. Spend it as wisely as you can (translated to a piece that appeals to you).... And why not try the local pawn shop?

 

If there are any dealers that submit coins frequently, please correct me on this assumption if I'm wrong. But what I think is going on is that a dealer will submit a bunch of coins hoping to get high grades. For instance, a PCGS 1955-S penny that grades at MS67 is worth a hell of a lot more that the same penny at MS66. So a dealer submits say a bunch of pennies, and the ones that come back at MS66 or less go into the bargain bin. Those at MS67 or higher get put in the display case with a nice high price tag. In the long run the dealer makes good money.

 

Yes, this is a phenomenon I don't ever expect to understand.

 

fyp

 

It cost more to slab it than the coin is worth but selling them this way is a way to recover the cost and show a profit. Stay away and buy a slab that's worth something because you like the coin. Go to your LCS and they will probably have a few slabs with nice coins at a low price.

 

Simply buying because you do not have any is not a good idea, especially sight unseen. Although I'm not advocating for them, companies like L&C sell PCGS proof 69 cents, nickels and dimes in packages of 10 or more, tell you the date range and these usually sell for $5.99 each. There are better deals than what you have found. I have also found better deals than this in consignment shops.

 

This thread prompted me to check out the cheap slabbed coins listed on eBay. Wow! I had no idea that so many coins have been slabbed at a cost greater than the coin's value. Amazing...

 

I think what is happening is that the person sending the coin in to be graded was expecting a higher grade then the coin received. So now someone has $25 invested in a $5 coin. They can either write it off as a $20 loss or try to recover some of that money by selling it for $10.

 

It’s that and bulk submissions have a minimum number where it’s literally cheaper to send anything than not meet the number and some big boys get really really cheap rates on some things

 

I used to bulk submit years ago, cost was approx $8 per coin min quantity 100 of same coin. Then over the years they started charging by the grade, so the higher the bill, the better the grades.

 

So then I guess it's possible that a dealer submitting in bulk could sell a slabbed coin for $10 and break even, or close to it.

 

I'm not sure, stopped doing bulk subs around 2009. I'm thinking pricing has gone up and up since.

 

Yes if it’s a big enough submitter. NGC charges by the grade for normal bulks, PCGS is a flat rate. The biggest submitters get much better deals from both

 

This is probably more true than not, and hadn't really considered that. Some of them are advertised as estate finds and such, though I suspect they've been picked over quite well.

It's not so much for the sake of owning a plastic coffin. It's something that I have no experience with. I've never owned a slabbed coin or even held one in my hand.

We have a single pawn shop nearby and it's 90% jewelry and 10% musical instruments.

I will never understand it either if I don't give it a try, right? I don't have a burning desire to own all slabbed coins, just looking to expose myself. To slabbed coins I mean, I mean to be exposed to slabbed coins, ok it's getting worse.

That would be great, but I don't have one.

I live in a town that is the largest town in the area, everyone for up to an hours drive away comes here to shop. That being said, we still have a population of under 10,000 people. Specialty shops are few and far between, unless you're into hippy clothing, candy, or "tobacco" products. It's really ironic that we're home to one of the largest, if not the largest mail order coin company in the country and we have no LCS, no nearby venues at all where coins are sold, traded, or talked about. So if I want to examine something I need to either travel or purchase it online.

In any case, I think I got caught up in the "excitement" of not knowing what I would get and that was sort of appealing. Sort of like buying a grab bag or a package of baseball cards. But I think as has been mentioned above, it would be wiser to just pick out something that interests me in that lower price range and know what I'm getting.