I recently came across this coin that is listed on ebay for $600 and is advertised as a low ball type coin. 1) What is the purpose of a CAC sticker on PO1? 2) Is there a real market for these? 3) I have seen much nicer raw Indians on my LCS's counter for 50 cents I don't get it
Do you think the CAC sticker is real? Looks funky but that may just be the picture. Still an absurd listing.
Supply and demand. It’s very difficult to find a PO01 IH with no damage, and there are people out there that want to say they have the lowest possible grade. It’s the same logic as the people who want MS70 coins, just for PO01.
Most folks that do this, do it for registry sets over on PCGS. They ain't got a chance at ever having a high grade set (award wining sets require deep pockets) so they go the opposite route and compete on a more level playing field. I imagine such a set is indeed fun to amass, but It's not the way I collect. Tommy (above) indicated low ball commems but my sometimes passion is getting circulated commems that look honest and original. That's fun too.......
Low ball collecting is a class by itself that I cannot relate to. I want the best coin I can get for the money I'm willing to part with.
We all enjoy collecting different stuff. I know this guy that used to collect coins with holes in them.
I see it that way too. We have already elevated the value of this hobby out of the reach of many potential hobbyists. If we take away the bargain box coins too then what is left for a budding young numismatist?
But we really haven’t, there’s 18 IH cents graded PO01 by PCGS. There’s still thousands and thousands of $1 or less IH cents out there.
Don't try to find logic where there isn't any, at least in the traditional sense. ("Stop Making Sense", to quote the Talking Heads, circa 1984.) Lowball collectors are a breed apart. I think they're a bit nutty. Not for for collecting lowball coins, but for wasting money and time slabbing, stickering, and registering them, and paying crazy sums. But to each his own. That being said, I can respect their kookiness and their contrarian way of turning conventional numismatic wisdom on its head. They're lunatics, but I kind of like their lunacy. It's more refreshing than so many other forms we see.
Yeah, I heard about that guy. Speaking of whackaloons. But at least he wore them as clothing accessories and didn't spend crazy money on them, or slab or CAC them...
Lowball collecting is one of the more puzzling subsets of coin collecting to me. I suppose they are having fun, but for the prices they are paying for some of these culls in plastic, they could buy some nice coins. Each to his own, I suppose.
Different people collect different things in different ways. I’m sure there are people that thought I was crazy in selecting and grading low end two cent pieces. I’ve done sets in MS and PR 64 grade of these and decided to dig deeper and assemble a grade set in both NGC and PCGS plastic. My end goal is an educational Exhibit at a future convention of the Michigan State Numismatic Society discussing technical versus market grading. Still need one coin a PCGS VF-20. The ANACS VF-20 I cracked out and sent to PCGS came back as a VF-35. (Did someone say gradeflation?)
Grading sets have some educational value. They make more sense than lowball sets. But who says you have to make sense, right? If slabbing and registering lowball coins makes someone happy, then more power to 'em.
And lets not forget the history behind such coins. Some like to sit back and simply wonder who, where and how these low grade coins came to be as such. It might spark a particular interest in the year the coin was made. There are those who prefer chop marked Trade Dollars for this very reason. A pristine coin is just that, it never saw circulation, never endured any hard times, was never spent, etc. If we were talking about low end lunch boxes, I might begin to wonder though.
Take a bunch of worthless pennies and put em in a rock tumbler, then pick em out once they are po01 and pay to have em slabbed. Sounds like a great hobby.