What would you buy?

That's my feeling as well. Going off the assumption they both have about the same value (since they are the same price)...which one is easier to sell down the road when you decide to upgrade? The problem free low grade or the problem coin high grade? I would say the low grade...and that is why I picked that one.

 

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I would think that in most cases...the amount of damage from a cleaning to reduce a MS64 coin to the equal value of a problem free G4 would be pretty extreme. Since both coins are the same price...one can assume they have roughly the same value.

 

The OP did not call this a problem-free G4. Rather, the OP stated the coin "is in pretty bad shape, with a grade of good". Those are two different animals. Regardless, I would still keep my money in my pocket and find the right coin rather than spending my funds on the wrong coin.

 

Speaking as someone who had a relatively large percentage of cleaned coins in my bust half collection, when it came time to sell the collection, I ended up losing money on the cleaned coins, but making money on the problem-free coins. Yes, there were a few coins that I couldn't have afforded to own as problem-free (e.g., 1836 reeded edge bust half - 1,200 minted), but in retrospect, I should have passed on the majority of cleaned coins. Had I been more careful in my selection, when it came time to sell my bust half collection, I would have made money.

I know it's hard to pass on something like a 1798 small eagle dollar in VF for $2,500, but if it has been cleaned, you may be quite disappointed when it comes time to sell it.

 

That's a good point. I read that to mean...one coin is a problem free G4 and the other is a cleaned MS64 (MS details). Since they are the same price...I assumed the cleaning had devalued the coin to be worth the same as the G4. Since he said it's in "pretty bad shape" I wonder if both coins are problem coins. In this instance, I would keep the money in my pocket as well. That said...if I had to buy one, I would buy whichever is the problem free example.

 

I took the "pretty bad shape" comment of the OP as referring to its grade of Good, not that there were anything else wrong with the coin EXCEPT it grades Good. That is why I was assuming a normal, good coin except its lower grade in my comments.

 

I think this is the problem with this scenario. The details are vague and each of us has assumed something slightly different and based our answers upon our own assumptions. Here is what I took it to mean:

Coin 1: Problem Free G4
Coin 2: MS64 Details, Harshly Cleaned
Price/Value: Same price (value)...I used this as evidence for my "harshly cleaned" expectation of coin two as the OP stated both coins were a rare and expensive key date. The amount of cleaning that it would take to reduce an MS64 example of such a coin to the value of a G4 would be severe.

I answered accord to this scenario and I decided I would want the G4 if I had to choose one.

 

Very true. Maybe I wasn't visualizing such a severe cleaning, as I could not comprehend how any G could ever be worth the same as a MS64 cleaned. However, I was not visualizing a MS64 so badly cleaned that by right should be labeled damaged or ungradable.

If the cleaning had to be THAT severe, then like I said in post #17 if it had catastrophic damage that would change my answer.

I bet if we had a clear scenario all of us would probably not be very far apart.

 

If the choice is one or the other, rather than wait, I would take the cleaned one

 

I'm fascinated with shiny objects.

 

Waiting is not a choice. Just have fun and pick one or the other.

 

I'd wait and get one I liked , no use spending good money on something you really don't like . You'll just end up hating it and eventually replace it .

 

I have a very easy simple answer to this... I would buy the coin I liked most out of the 2 (probably the cleaned shiny one) as my albums are for me and I don't care so much about value in my collection as "what i like" on the other hand for investment purposes, I would probably buy the g4 over the cleaned as being a keydate the g4 would prove much more liquid then the cleaned coin.

 

So . . . absolutely no hole filler, even in a what if fantasy situation?