1932-S Washington at Flea Market

I was at a flea market yesterday and saw a vendor selling some coins in 2x2s. I was surprised to see a 1932-S Washington and it looked like at lest XF-40 or XF-45. It was also very clean, too clean. It had the look of a coin that had been cleaned or dipped but because the sun was so bright I had a tough time telling exactly what type of cleaning it had received. My guess is that it had been dipped because there was no luster at all. I need two 1932-S Washington coins to finish my books and I passed on this one. It was selling for $195.00 and this was a flea market so I keep wondering if I did the right thing. What would you have done if you had been there and wanted this coin? Buy or walk for the $195.00? As I said, I walked.

 

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Chances it was even genuine are not all that good. Walk on!

 

When you get to that point where you feel comfortable in your own abilities,buying at fleamarkets etc,sometimes are the best place to buy.

 

Flea markets are like anything else. Found good guys and seen crooks both at them.

 

Yessir, I would agree with that, but I would of walked too. Flea market means quick buck. There's a good possiblity that it was real, but better chances it was not...

 

Since I researched the 1932 S after posting a pic here and having a few people tell me mistakenly that it was fake. I might have bought it. On some of the MS coins there may be a small hollow that the mint mark is placed in. Look for the verticle serifs and the boxiness of the mark. Page 329 of the PCGS Official Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection give a very good description of the genuine coin. Although the prices is down on that coin at the moment, there will never be another one minted, and at 408,000 population, I probably would have taken the chance. Once graded and slabbed, you can turn it for a profit. However, having it to complete your set might be the thing. I would rather show an incomplete set myself than fill the hole with a replica.
IMHO

 

I should amend my post to add that if you are confident in you authentication abilities, by all means buy the coin. I checked your quarter in the other thread, and thought it looked genuine (as much as you can tell from a scan).

 

Yes, you do need to feel confident when you spend your money. There are way to many people who cheat and defraud other just to make a quick buck. But sometimes gambles do payoff. The problem being that if it would turn out to be a fake, you would need to destroy it or mark it as such, so that no one else would get taken advantage of.

And as I said, there are far too many doing this that cheat.

 

I agree but will say they can be a great place to buy.

 

The 32-s, while being a key to the series, is a VERY common coin. There's no reason to take on any risk in purchasing one raw in a flea market (short of being an expert on grading and authentication), IMO. I would have walked too.

 

I read that there are an estimated 22 million people who collect quarters in the US. That means 1 in 25 will be able to own the 1932 S with only 408,000 ever being minted. Some people don't want to put replica coins in their collection just to fill the holes, so guessing that only 1 in 10 will ever own a genuine one. I guess it depends on how you want your collection to be, and your own ability to assess the coin.

Price trends vary. I have a feeling that after more people start collecting Wasdhingtons because of the State Collectors, that the 1932 S & D are going to be harder to get, hence more costly. The depression isn't going to last forever. At least I have no intention of selling one right now.

 

sometimes we find gold,where others think there is only dirt.

 

Of course, you could have made an offer. Also takled to the seller, they may have guaranteed it ? I know, that I would have given you my name, address and contact info if I was selling and would give your money back if the coin were proven fake. But did you bother to ask ? What I know about the guys at flea markets and swap meets is they want to turn stuff over. If he wanted to collect it, it would not have been for sale. But it's all past tense now, except for your doubt. Check it out next week and talk to the guy. See what he says. Sometimes, it's better to sell at swap meets than pay the rental on a store, and a lot of these guys work all week at a full time job, so this is their way to trade. If he's a crook, you will know after feeling him out. IMHO

 

Good piece of advice:

Don't buy coins at:

1. Pawn Shops - They're clearly overpriced

2. Yard Sales - They're clearly overpriced, or too good to be true

3. Flea Markets - You'll never know what you get!

 

The last time I looked at some Morgan's at a flea market, the seller had live hamsters next to those old colored 2 X 2's where the cello windows were actually turning a pale yellow.

They were all generic circulated Morgan's where the cheap prices were scratched out/covered up and current exorbitant prices re-applied. I've never seen a bunch of dog-eared 2X2's before...but this seller had them, rusty staples and all.

Happy Collecting

 

22 million quarter collectors.... 21.99% of which collect or gather the state quarters. This information was probably brought out by HSN right before they started selling their "RARE" state quarter collections. I seriously doubt that the number of COIN collectors is even close to that number but I am not a statistician either.