Grab bags and EBay.....

Years ago I found a 1909-S VDB in a un-searched wheat bag ( 5000 cents ) from Superior Stamp and Coin. A dealer friend told me that was a one in a million chance. I did not add up all of the wheat's made and divide by the number of '09-S VDB so I do not know if he was exaggerating or not.

 

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well-I ordered some 'unsearched wheaties' from a guy on eBay. I've never done it, but figured I needed a project this summer while I"m out of school. I got 1,250-for $54. Just got them today and so far have 2 1910's and almost a roll of steel cents. Along with quite a bit of '40s and '50s I found about twenty 1917s that were cleaned-what a shame!
Bill

 

coin grab bag

you have to be careful with the grab bags as i bought some and got a lot of junk coins thinking it was a good deal but im sure there are the few in there that might have something worth the money you pay dont buy from robert_coiner all the grab bags i got from him was a joke so just be carefully with them

 

I'm not a huge fan of these because I like to know exactly what I'm going to get. But it can be a bargai way to work on series of coins if you don't mint the fact that the rarer coins in the series will only show up once in a blue moon. Just know what you're getting and pay accordingly, based on what you're likely to get, not what there's a one in million chance of getting. Not had any complaints with the few times I've bought grab bags on eBay... grab bag of what cents I've bought basically allowed me to solidly fill out the 30's to 50's, with a handful of teens and 20's.

 

Yeah, that's more or less the right attitude in my opinion. It helps me fill out a lot of blanks, but I'm also the kind who likes a little mystery so there's really no harm or foul associated with it for me.

Now, when I've had my fill of that and fill the blank spaces in my books, then I'll start getting serious about buying the pieces that'll really bring the collection to another level. Right now, I'm just dipping my toes back into the numismatic waters so to speak.

 

I ordered a couple of bags from that "best coin lot" guy and came away fairly satisfied. You have to buy with the understanding that the vast majority of the lots that go out are going to be worth less than what the buyers paid for them, though - otherwise, why sell them this way?

I thought it would be a good way to get back into the hobby after several years, get my collection started back up, see a large variety of different coins and re-learn how to grade them, and have a chance of getting something very valuable in the process.

I received a nice mix of stuff - nothing that I would say is extremely valuable, though, not even a single piece worth $10 or more. Here is a brief summary for anyone who is considering a purchase:

"Junk silver": 1 Franklin half, 2 Walker halves, 4 Washington quarters, 1 Standing Liberty quarter, 3 Roosevelt dimes (one AU), 5 Mercury dimes.

Nickels: 3 Buffalo, 2 Jefferson Wartime.

Cents: 1 Indian head, 2 UNC common date Wheats.

The set also included a very nice 1961 proof Franklin and an uncirculated 1953 Roosevelt dime, along with a big pile of circulated common date Wheats. 90% silver coins totaled just over $4.00 in face value.

The "junk silver" all came in well circulated common dates. Several of these were obviously cleaned (probably par for the course in grab bags).

I'm going to call BS on any claims of this lot being un-searched, but it served its purpose of re-introducing me to the hobby and I may buy a few more before I'm through.

 

I just got $50.00 face value of lincoln wheat reverse yesterday pretty much run of the mill 50's, 40's with perhaps 150 of them 30's and below. Nothing spectacular except for a 1909-VDB perhaps RB MS60 and it was right at the top of the bag. He (the seller) could have at least mixed it in a bit so that I could feel that I lucked out.:smile

 

This is only my opinion but there is no such thing as a unsearched lot of coins from e-bay. Someone, some time has been through that lot. Now you might find something they missed but they have been searched. And then again you might find that one coin you have been looking for, it's all about the hunt.:kewl: