Anyone buy from Coinman_2000?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Stevearino, Dec 25, 2017.

  1. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    Hi everyone!
    Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.

    Anyone have experience buying from Coinman_2000 (Spotlight Coins)?

    Steve
     
    -Andy- likes this.
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  3. ronnie58

    ronnie58 Active Member

    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?
     
  4. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    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
     
  5. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    I assume you're talking about eBay, Steve?
     
  6. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    I have. He never discloses problems on his coins, so buyer beware.... but you can cherrypick him on occasion.
     
  7. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    @BooksB4Coins, yes, flea-bay. My concern is all the cleaned ones out there, sometimes hard to detect in a photo.

    Steve
     
    ronnie58 likes this.
  8. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    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.
     
    Nathan401, 352sdeer and Stevearino like this.
  9. Aotearoa

    Aotearoa Currently Smitten with DBLCs

    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).
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  10. HawkeEye

    HawkeEye 1881-O VAMmer

    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?
     
  11. RobertMc

    RobertMc New Member

    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.
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  12. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    @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
     
  13. Derrick Combs

    Derrick Combs Well-Known Member

    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
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  14. Derrick Combs

    Derrick Combs Well-Known Member

    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.
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  15. Long Beard

    Long Beard Well-Known Member

    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.
     
    AdamL and Stevearino like this.
  16. HawkeEye

    HawkeEye 1881-O VAMmer

    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.
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  17. HawkeEye

    HawkeEye 1881-O VAMmer

    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
     
  18. HawkeEye

    HawkeEye 1881-O VAMmer

    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.
     
  19. Skippy Topaz

    Skippy Topaz PAPERBOY

    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

    coinman-2000.jpg
     
  20. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    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.
     
    Randy Abercrombie likes this.
  21. Skippy Topaz

    Skippy Topaz PAPERBOY

    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
     
    cplradar likes this.
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