Hi everyone! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Anyone have experience buying from Coinman_2000 (Spotlight Coins)? Steve
No, but have come close. I noticed a while ago that he had a phenomenal inventory and signed on as a follower. If I may ask, are you asking just for general feedback or because of a particular experience?
Just bought a Stone Mountain half on auction. A small investment in seeing how closely I can grade from a photo to PCGS’s eventual grade. Yeah, could be a fool’s errand, but I don’t have all that much invested. Steve
I have. He never discloses problems on his coins, so buyer beware.... but you can cherrypick him on occasion.
@BooksB4Coins, yes, flea-bay. My concern is all the cleaned ones out there, sometimes hard to detect in a photo. Steve
Thanks. For what it's worth, after just a quick scroll through his listings I was left by the impression he's intentionally photographing his (particularly silver) coins in a way that reflects far too much light off the surfaces, which is usually used to hide imperfections or surface conditions. He's simply moved too much material not to know better, or for this to be passed off as incompetence. Of course this doesn't mean the coin in question is bad, but I wouldn't think twice about returning if it's anything less than you hoped. Best of luck to you, sir.
I've bought a couple of LCs from him - both at prices significantly less than those posted (at least one other time he didn't accept my offer and I didn't accept his counter-offer). I was leery of the pictures but have been happy with the purchases I've made. One good thing for me is that he ships here to NZ at a reasonable price (and does it quickly).
I noticed on PCGS that the DDO variety is listed as FS-101 or FS-001. Does anyone have any documentation on the meaning of these designations?
I purchased one item from him, and when it arrived, it was apparent that the coin had been lit to make it appear as though it was a higher grade than it actually WAS, so be very careful about his designations. When I gave him a less than perfect rating, he contacted me and berated me HOURLY (no joke - four emails until I replied) trying to get me to change my rating, and insulting me for having been so naive. I finally decided to keep the same language, but up the star rating by one - subsequently he cut all contact and complained to eBay about an "unwarranted" review that I had to explain when they contacted me. His constant use of the word "choice" in all description should be a dead giveaway. I would approach him with caution.
@HawkeEye , I just noticed that no one had responded to your FS queries. Did you find it on your own? Have you checked the Wexler site? Steve
I've bought a lot of low grade circulated mercury dimes from him. Had no problems. He mails those in letters without tracking. I always got them faster than packages. Even last month when the post office was slow. But yes watch his pictures. If in doubt, don't buy or pay too much if unsure. I think he takes returns. He has a small following of watchers and some coins go higher than I would pay for them. But there are a lot more riskier sellers on eBay
And you should never even look at, or consider a sellers estimated grade unless it's in a slab. Look at the coin determine what grade you think it is. Determine what is worth, then determine what is worth to you. Don't bid until then end. Don't bid more than what it's worth to you. If someone else runs it up let it go.
I've not had any issues with him on several purchases. My overall assessment is that they are very close to the photos, or so what I've received. But I have to agree with Derrick, I bid only what I'm willing to spend and nothing higher.
Sorry I have been away on other honey do list items. Yes I got the answer and later started a web site for the Stone Mountain Half where I am starting to get into die studies. I have located a number of markers that will identify the FS-101 coins on eBay when they are not marked as such. So I have been able to snatch a few at reasonable prices.
I know this is way old, but I now have the beginning of a pretty solid grading set for the SMH up on my site with multiple examples for most grades. These are tough, but in fairness I think PCGS gets it right more than wrong when you look at multiple examples. https://www.stonemountainhalf.com/ourcollection.html
I will not give you his name here since I don't know if he wants to keep it only to buyers, but I have been working with Coinman for about ten years. He helped me a lot on a Morgan lowball set and after I retired from that quest he went on to build a perfect set, so obviously knows his stuff in that arena. I think he is solid on grading and sticks to his guns on pricing, but given the time and effort he puts into it I might do the same. I have always found him to be trustworthy.
Found this thread after purchasing a coin on ebay from coinman_2000 If you look at the attached image, you will see that I did not receive the coin shown in the listing.. The listing claimed the coin was CHOICE UNC and he insists that he sent me the correct coin because when he photographs them he gives them an inventory code which is written on the coin holder but as you can see, they are clearly not the same coin.. I think he made a mistake and sent a really nice two-cent piece to someone looking to buy the low-grade coin he sent me He's giving me a refund so that's cool but I find it difficult to believe that he would still say that this is the coin from the listing after seeing these images I sent him
That’s the same coin, but even in the original pics you can tell that’s a XF45-AU50. Blast any coin with light and you can make it look much much different.
I will never believe that's the same coin in a million years... There's no way a blast of light would turn a coin from dark brown to silver.. plus if you look you can see a little line under the 2 on the left and clear lined in the shield which are not present on the image to the right.. I also can't believe someone would post an image of the coin on the left if they were trying to accurately represent the coin on the right.. doesn't make sense.. if it wasn't a mistake then it was clearly a deception