Local coin shop shocking score

I think we're all dancing around one important point that needs airing. Regardless of the venue, we all start as uneducated buyers, and end up either (1) educated buyers, (2) uneducated for the long haul, or (3) dropping out of the market for good.

eBay is no different, in that some make out well from their earliest days of participation (experienced AND cynical before they start on eBay), others learn well from mistakes as they go, others will buy the wrong coins their entire life, and the remainder will quit after learning it requires more energy and time than they are willing to devote to learning how to avoid the pitfalls of buying on eBay.

The same can be said of buying mail order, on the bourse floor, on Craig's List, etc, or yes . . . even at Major auctions. I have never been to an auction conducted by a major house that didn't offer at least one damaged coin in a TPG holder with a grade on it. Those houses, one in particular, know how to get those coins holdered, and they sell them at high prices. How . . . ? By shooting favorable photos and letting the remote bidders drive the prices up. They know exactly what they are doing, because they still have high reserves on those coins. I've attended several auctions specifically to bid on coins that ended up fitting that profile, and been VERY disappointed.

Oh . . . that one auction house in particular? Unless it happens to be holding an auction where I'm already going to that venue for another reason (usually the FUN Show), I will NEVER go out of my way to attend one of their auctions. I have personally seen too many such instances to believe their favorably-taken photographs are pure coincidence.

By the way, the VG half referenced by the OP is my coin. I paid a little over $200 for it on eBay, knowing it is worth more, and bought it to resell. Personally, I grade the coin Fine, as the reverse indicates the front was weakly struck in the centers . . . not unusual for this date.

How did I know it is worth more? I did the work . . . you must as well.

 

Did you not previously post the following? . . . "Heritage and the other major auction houses are the only sources that one should ever use to research the value of a coin."

Most major auction houses will not even handle many lower valued coins that might be targeted by some readers of this forum. Thus, they may need to go elsewhere to find the kind of information they seek.

You should be more careful . . . Absolutest statements of the kind you made may discredit your contribution to the dialogue as reflexive and narrow-minded.