Grab bags and EBay.....

Hello all!

I am a raw new collector looking for a nice way to get my feet wet. I have never collected coins before and am looking for some "grab bags" to get started with.

I also have an eight year old son who has expressed an interest in coins and collecting...

I feel that a few "grab bags" might be a fun way to start off. Searching through a few piles of coins with a "Red Book" (thanks for the suggestion Tcore!) with my son sounds like a lot of fun. (collecting single coins would not hold his interest long right now..or mine )

Does anyone have some experience with these grab bag deals off of EBay or any alternate suggestions?

*** cross post warning *** (sorry!)
The specific EBay auctions that I am considering are;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8379653478
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8372725371
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8378591332

Any advice is appreciated!!

Thank you!

hubris

 

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Grab bags are fun, just realize that it is an investment in learning the hobby, and not likely to produce any of those great coins that they hint at. I do the $35 or less grab bags on occassion just as an ongoing chance to practice grading on more coins, and have a little fun hoping for a cherry pick. Just think of it as money spent in learning, like buying a book. Have fun.

 

I would not recommend this - I would particularly not recommend the first or the third. I would not recommend the second either, but if I had to choose between the three, I guess the second smells like less of a rip off than the other two...

 

I can promise you...

MAYBE the seller did not search the lot. BUT, chances are, those pennies were searched over and over and over again by previous cherry pickers. I love those ads:

"Found in the _______" (Basement, attic, floor board, banker's vault, garage"

"Never searched!" (At least by the seller)

"1909-S VDB, 1914-D found!" (Please, don't insult my intelligence)

Look at these seller's feedback. Contact some of the most recent suckers that bid on these lots. You probably will hear that they found a ton of wheaties from the 40's and 50's with a worn 1919 thrown in for good measure.

Why? Look at the history of collecting...especially Lincolns.

Searching through Lincolns started to really take off between 1935 and the end of World War II. Prices for key dates like the 1909S-VDB and 14-D also increased dramatically. The Standard Catalogue of U.S. Coins by Wayte Raymond was introduced in 1934 paving the way for more peole getting interested in the hobby. For years, this was the sole guide for a generation of collectors. Then in 1935, the Numismatic Scraprbook was introduced...and more books and publications were soon introduced into the hobby.

The reason why World War II saw an increase in coin collecting was that there were so many restrictions placed on the way Americans could spend their money at that time. With virtually all of the American industries converted to supplying the war effort, there was very few things that people could buy, even though American wages and buying power were much higher than the depression years earlier.

Coin collecting quickly became part of entertainment dollars as movie theaters, dance halls and amusement parks all posted record attendance figures during the war years.

Then in 1959, the cent changed its reverse and collectors started saving HOARDS of coins. The 1960 small and large date varieties also helped fuel coin collector's interest. Meanwhile, a large number of collectors (including yours truly) remember going through rolls and rolls of cents as well as those cents hoarded by any relative over the age of 40.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because 99.99% of these "unsearched lots" have been searched time in and time out. I could remember in 1969 as a nine year old searching though cents when I would find a "S" mint and thinking it was a HUGE deal. I can remember keeping "S" minted cents in rolls separate from the other "common" finds...and that was almost 40 years ago!

So that is my take...

 

I don’t like grab bags, especially off Ebay. No way to know if they’ve been search through or not. You could vary well end up with a bag of 1940-50 wheat pennies worth $.02 each. I know because I have 5lbs of 1940’s.

A better idea may be to look through flea markets, coin shops, and collector shows for bargain bends. =)

 

Hello Richard!

My expectations are so low as to be non-existent. I know I won't find the grandaddy of all coins lurking in one of these things. BUT!! It will be a lot fun with my son and will get us several coins to put into sleeves (slabs?).

I am trying to find something that we can do together, that will hold his interest, can be a lot of fun, will make us both think, teach him how to be more responsible and how to do a little research and possibly spark a lifelong passion.

In all honesty, I have a horribly bad back, chronic cyatic pain and am unable to do a lot of physical activities with him. We play video games together.....I need to find some other things to do with him that are not as destructive to a young mind. I have always wanted to collect coins and he has started asking about them. I would be a very proud dad if he gains a passion for collecting coins and thrilled if I were the one who lead him to it.

hubris

 

Wow, two additional replies while I was writing my own to Richard..

I don't expect much from these things. That's the honest truth.

Flea markets may be a good bet..we have several in my area. I have also started looking through the Sunday paper looking for estate sales.

I appreciate the input, very much!

Thank you all!

hubris

 

What I did with my youngest son was to throw in some "S" minted VG to Fine early Lincolns into a large bucket I keep under my desk. We looked through the pile and listening to a 9 year old exclaim, "Dad, I found a 1917-S, 1909-VDB, etc." was worth just the expression of excitement I saw on his face.

Now he searches through ALL coins. He wants to find those "extra-leaf" Wisconsin quarters and his best find two years ago was a 1972 DDO Lincoln that I submitted for him to PCGS and it came back AU55! I couldn't believe it myself!! I helped him sell it on ebay for $250 and you should have seen the look of his older brother when I was handing him one $20 bill after another.

Again, all great memories...

 

Have you pretty much decided to go with lincoln cents or are you open to other denominations? You can go to the bank and get a $500 box of halfs of $100 box of nickels and go through them and return the coins you don't keep and get more. All for face value.

 

Funny...
If you take your kids to a movie and spend $40 its good fun. No lasting value, but fun.
And yet we all have a coronary over spending the same or less on some numismatic fun!
If you know why you are doing it, then have a great time and enjoy. The time spent with my son going through small half pound lots has been a blast. I have had fun with Item number: 8380077285 on ebay
I've bought a number of these and always had fun. Unsearched? I don't know, but there are lots of fun mint and proofs, with an occassional older walker or franklin half, a few morgans, and wheats. Never had one that was a total rip off, just not worth much more than I paid (although I got a CC dime in F condition!).
they are fun. My son loves going through them. It is an investment in fun and education.
Like I said, enjoy.

 

Bags

I never thought of it like that, it makes lots of sense.:thumb:

 

My wife knew it was something I had mentioned one time, that I wanted to try the Grab Bag thing on Ebay. She bought me one for christmas and at under $20.00 , We Lost money.

Still Love my Wife for the thought

 

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZsuncoinsQ5fliquidationsQQssPageNameZSTRKQ3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

that would be the only grab bag auction i would reccomend

 

Well, I bit the bullet and purchased three of the grab bags suggested...$100.00 for a pound and a half of coins. I am buying the "red book" tomorrow and will not so patiently await the mystery bags arrivals.

My expectations are low...lower still since I have no clue what to look for, but I, and my son, are extremely excited to get our feet wet!

I will be posting EACH coin, front and back so you can all view with envy, my growing horde of coins! (joking!!...well )

If I do find something that looks interesting I will let you all know and attempt to post a picture.

Please be patient with what I am sure will be a lot of questions!!!

 

I took a look at this auction and all of the marketing and fluff looks great...however...did you see the containers where the coins were "hoarded"??

They were stored in a "Sankey" beer keg that did not hit the US beer market until the late 70's and early 80's. First it was made popular by Miller brands, then Bud started using the same keg design. I know first hand because I worked at a beer distributor through my college years delivering 1000's of these kegs everywhere from bars to Rich Stadium (now called Ralph Wilson Stadium) in Western New York. I was there when they were introduced these kegs in the market and remember all of the draft conversions we had to make to installing the new hardware, which is the tap itself.



So...somehow these coins made its way from where ever they were stored to these new kegs and you are goinig to tell me there were NOT searched as they went from storage bin to these new kegs??

Good luck...

 

you should question the seller on that and see what he comes up with. but it's too late for me, i've already purchased 15 bags from them in one shot. i did get several (pre-64) high AU to lower MS franklins, walkers, quarters, dimes, and nickels though, plus a 1879 cc morgan from them. so it was at the very least a fair (or close to fair) transaction for me, i think.

 

Jeffersons

This is an interesting thought if you want to collect truly "on the cheap" Buy the whitman folders or what have you and get about 5 or 10 rolls of nickels. Almost all the Jeffersons are still in circulation - I even remember getting a 38 in change a few years back, and you can assemble a near complete set (excluding 50D and the late 30s mintmarks, and the silvers). Anyways, just an idea.

 

I've ordered from the same guy (Suncoins) and haven't had any complaints so far. I was on a long, long hiatus from collecting, so it's a nice, fun way to get myself back into it. Going into one of these expecting to hit the mother lode probably isn't the right mindset to have, but I've come out with some nice AU+ and PRF silver from the 10s-60s to build up my stocks with. Also got my first look at a '55 "Poor Man's DD" from my most recent bag, so that's nice.

It's more about the fun of looking through them for me than anything. You just have to have a little perspective going into it that you're not going to find anything major. There's a chance you could, but the odds aren't on your side, obviously. Still, it's better than any other grab bag I've ever purchased. I have about 4 more 1/2lb lots coming in soon from them, so we'll see if the trend continues.

 

If you're primary interest is quality time with the rugrat(s), try visiting a dealer and buying a bunch of coins from his world coin junk bowl. Sometimes they can be had for as little as 5 cents each, and besides having a better chance of finding something worthwhile (because many dealers just dump any world coins they get into such bowls without checking them) you'll also have an opportunity to learn some history and geography.