I wanted to slip this one up quickly, because the link to the original auction will probably expire soon. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=140479887725&si=T9iYIg2Zz9c%252B3W4PhvF7FYrNrbs%253D&viewitem=#ht_1530wt_968 This auction was listed with a starting bid of $1499, and drew no bids until three minutes before its close. This can be a good sign -- a high starting bid, even if it's fair, can discourage early activity, and a lack of early activity can lead people to overlook the auction ("if nobody else is bidding on it, it must be overpriced"). I figured the minimum value of this lot -- melt value for the stuff identifiable as PM, plus face value for the rest -- at right around $1460 or so. I had a "10% off up to a maximum of $100 off" PayPal coupon, which gave me a bit more leverage. I ended up winning the lot, with it closing slightly under my maximum bid. I was hungry for my first gold coins, and knew that unabused Liberty gold usually goes comfortably above melt value. I was curious about the filled 1909-S hole in the IHC book, but I asked the seller "whether there was a small S on the back of the coin near the bottom of the wreath", and he said "he couldn't see one". Overall, I was a bit nervous about the "junk plus a couple of treasures" aspect of the lot -- cheap, run-of-the-mill cents, nickels and low-end silver of the "casual collection" sort, plus a CC Morgan and two gold pieces. But, hey, "buyer protection", I said to myself. I'll follow up later with what I actually found when I received the collection.
I hope that you do not return it just because you don't think think the value is not there You bid on it and it is yours. Unless of course, if there is an obvious intent to deceive like counterfeits semi- keys problematic .... cleaned or altered.
Without "skipping ahead to the answer", I'll say that I only return items if they are "substantially not as described". One of the down sides of buying vaguely described items is that, even if they're disappointing, that criterion is less likely to be met.
In the auction description it says he was collecting close to 25 years. Seller must have been a slightly casual collector as I would think a collection of that many years would be much more than that. Price of auction seems fair for what is offered.
you will have to do a complete inventory but with only 3 bids it seemed most people Thought that it wasent worth it!
Okay, I won't drag this one out -- this one turned out to be more or less as advertised. The SLQ was advertised as 1920, but if it has a date, I can't discern it. One of the Peace dollars is holed, more thoroughly than any I've seen -- probably a 1/4" hole. I didn't notice it in the images, but now I can see it if I look at them. The 1878-CC looks like AU-50 details to me. I'm trying to decide whether to send it in under ANACS's "Dollars and cents" promotion (ten dollars and/or small cents for $100), and I welcome opinions. It looks better in hand than in this photo -- if I ever want to sell coins on eBay, I have got to learn how to take photos that emphasize a coin's beauty, rather than its flaws. The gold eagle looks... really, really nice. It's got a couple of pretty bad rim hits, but the fields seem mostly in pretty good shape, it's got full luster (as best my inexperienced eye can tell), and I don't see a trace of actual wear. Here again, I'd welcome advice on whether or not to get it slabbed. The half-eagle isn't in quite such nice shape -- it's got some odd scuffing in the fields, but it still doesn't really look either cleaned or circulated to me. I don't recall anything else in the batch that's really worth a photo. Common Peace and Morgan dollars, a bunch of Ikes that don't mean much to me yet, some currency that also doesn't mean much to me, and lots of odds and ends. The cardboard flips have come in very handy. Oh, yeah, the Roosevelt book ended up having 35 silver, 13 clad, and the IHC book ended up having random (worn, common) coins in the last page. No 1909-S, as I expected. The Flying Eagle cent is in pretty rough shape, but it's still my first. Overall, I was quite pleased. Got my first gold, got a nicer date Morgan, and laid in more silver -- and got some lower-value stuff for the kids to add to their collections, too. Part 3 will be along later tonight or tomorrow.
sweet! sounds like fun... I have wanted to bid on those to help complete various sets in various stages of completion and never mustered up the courage to throw any money at them.
Stay tuned, EyeEatWheaties. There are a couple more "collection" items that I've bid on and won, and I'll be telling those stories in the next few days (in this same format).
