I think I would have maxed out at about 200. I have just been way too disappointed when i get a toned coin purchased online. They always seem darker and less colorful than in the photos.
I don't see anything wrong with paying too much, even way too much, for a given coin just because we love that coin. Everybody does it, or has done it, and many more than once. But therein lies the problem. You see it's one thing to step over the edge and over-pay for a particular coin. But once you step over that edge it's downhill the rest of the way - and it's slippery. Meaning it becomes suddenly very easy to do it again, and again, and again - and then again ! This is the true danger of over-paying for coins just because you "love" them. Because first thing you know you've got an entire collection of coins for which you over-payed. Now maybe that wouldn't bother you. Maybe you can justify it to yourself by saying it's my money and I love the coins, and if I want to spend it then I'll spend it. But if you find yourself saying that then you need to remember how many other coins you could have bought with that wasted money. And also remind yourself that you'll never see all that money again. Food for thought.
Good post. I would liken it to "Can you afford to overpay $100 for one coin?" For most they probably can. Could most afford to overpay by $20,000 for their collection over the course of years? That one may be harder to swallow.
Those look like Shane's photos to me and given his experience with mint sets, I bet it was his auction. I believe all of his E-Bay listings are auction format as opposed to BIN. As for your question, you should be drawing the line at where you become uncomfortable paying more. In other words, if your predetermined limit was $350 after researching the value of toned 1958-D MS66 FBL Franklin Half Dollars then you should not exceed that amount. The date/mm in question is very common in this grade and with dramatic rainbow toning. Another beautiful example is right around the corner. Have no fear. Having said that, asking the people on this forum how much they would pay is a fruitless endeavor. Unless they are toned coin collectors, they will simply regurgitate the established price guide and call you a nut for pay over that price. You should really limit your inquiry to other toned coin collectors. After all, they are the ones who you will be competing with when bidding on coin such as this. The PCGS price guide is $220 and after a cursory search I have found that the range for dramatically toned coins is between $300-$500 with the $500 being the upper end of the retail range. The coin achieved a pretty high price because two collectors really decided that they loved the coin. I see nothing wrong with paying 2-3X PCGS price guide for this coin. If you want to feel better, consider that I paid many multiples of price guide for this coin over 4 years ago.
Lehigh that was pretty much intune with my thought process during this entire process. I am a toned fanatic and am trying to complete a complete color scheme at 65+. Your points are very valid and thank you for sharing.
I wouldn't bid on it for anything more than $450, although you don't see many Franklins toned like that.
Yes you are crazy, bonkers, round the bend, over the top, full blown zonkers..... Takes one to know one.
I agree 100% with Lehigh, above, and that's the main reason I recommended passing on the coin at the higher price. These coins are ridiculously common even attractively toned and you can afford to be patient. If this were in the 40's it would be a different story, but the mid- to late-fifties mint sets dramatically toned these coins in large numbers.
Just as a personal observation, and not with the expertise in these Lehigh has, I would agree. About 57 or so seems to be when coins started getting hoarded in BU condition much more prevalently, increasing exponentially until in my opinion at least half of the 64 mintage was saved in original rolls. As such, and being as they are silver and fresh silver tones easily, I have seen more pretty toned silver coins from 1957-1964 than from any other era of US coins.