How strict are you with coin quality?

I am much stricter about eye appeal than I used to be.

Note, however, that technical grade, and how strong a coin's merits for the grade are, is only one factor in eye appeal. It's an important factor, to be sure, but not the whole story. Lots of other factors like strike quality, luster, toning, style and design, etc., all factor into a coin's eye appeal for me.

And I prefer to be my own judge, though the opinions of third-party grading companies count. I'm not usually interested in taking it as far as fourth-party verification from "stickering" companies like CAC or WINGS, but if I have one of their stickers on a slab, all the better.

This. I try to buy the best I can afford. That's sound practice.

 

How strict are you with coin quality?

For me, saying it depends was accurate but grossly understated. I guess that's because the only reason I ever bought coins was because I happened to like that specific coin - but often for several very, very, different reasons.

Take these coins for example.





The 1st was the finest known, it later sold for about $8,000.

The second, also an excellent example, I paid almost $2,000 for it.

But the next two, I paid less than $30 each for those.

But I liked them all, and was quite proud to have each one in my collection.


And that's kind of the thing, my collection contained many exemplary coins, coins that only the discriminating collector would own. But it also contained other coins that were anything but expensive, some were even damaged, but I still bought them because for one reason or another I liked them - specifically for what they were.

 

Yea verily, how I doth lust after thy Cavaliers d'or...

 

LOL ! He's not, but I do see what ya mean.

 

Man, I'd be all over those young Louis for 30 buxapop! Must've been some time ago?

 

Well, as to that question, look at his foot on the stirrup - which way is it pointing ?

That said, if you had any idea of the history of that coin, the story for its very existence, you'd also realize there is an ironical element of truth to your comment

 

It was. One also has to remember that I sold my entire collection and completely quit collecting coins in 2006.

 

I remembered you mentioning that, but not how long ago it had been. What made you do it, yet still hang around the numismatic community?

Was sifting through some archived CU threads yesterday and accidentally stumbled across some old posts of yours, but I don't think they were that old. Maybe 2010-ish.

 

More examples what I mean by buying coins because I like them.





The 1st, one of the earliest of the Spanish colonial coins, a high grade example 1542 4 reale struck in the actual home of Hernan Cortez.

The 2nd, a high grade and what I thought was nicely toned example of a later 8 reales.

The 3rd, a much more common 2 reale with a strike-through and corrosion damage.

The 4th, a later 4 reale but with obvious damage.


But the primary reason I bought all of these was because of my own personal connection, from my past history, to Spanish colonial coinage. I guess what I'm trying to get across is that for me money played a very, very minor part in my coin buying habits. I bought coins for what I considered to be much more important reasons - because for one reason or another I liked the coin

 

1364, France. That is Jean le Bon, John II of France, and the coin is the very first French franc, though it was struck in the mint of Count Louis De Male in Flanders - then under French control. The story behind the coin is that John was captured in battle by the Black Prince, taken to England and held for ransom. This coin and others like it were designed and struck for one specific reason - to pay the ransom for the French King. Once the first portion of the ransom was paid by the King's son, the English released the King and allowed him to return to France, with the promise of paying the rest of the ransom. But once there, the King's son refused to pay any more.

So the King, being an honorable man, voluntarily returned to England where he later died in prison. And he knowingly did this for one reason only - to uphold his personal honor.

There aren't a lot of coins that have a story like that behind them !

 

It was graded MS64, back in the days when a 64 really was a 64. As I mentioned, it was the finest known, may still be.