I bought 40 coins, and clean them like a month already. Still working on them. Anyone had bought coins like that? Will u do it again?
Hi Vlad, I purchased (eBay) several lots of uncleaned coins. It's a pretty iffy deal. I've gotten batches with some really nice coins, and batches with ALL junk pieces. I've found that, especially with uncleaned coins, you usually get what you pay for. The cheaper the batch the more chance of junk coins. This is one of those deals where it really pays to do your home work and reeeally go through a seller's feedback. They can have 100% positive feedback, but look closely at the comments. If they read "As advertised" or just "fast shipper", beware. I think its acceptable to even contact a previous buyer and ask them how the coins were. With uncleaned coins, it really is caveat emptor.
There are many ways to buy these "uncleaned" coins. The best way is to go to a major coin show such as an ANA convention, or a regional meeting for CSNS, Northwest Pacific, Blue Ridge, etc. Even a local coin show may have a dealer with a box of these. You can at least SEE what you are getting. You will pay more upfront, but the reality of the arithmetic is undeniable. On the one hand you buy 40 coins for $40 and throw 10 away and 10 others are still junk. On the other hand, you pay $5 each, see what you are getting, and buy 5 of them. At a convention, you can sit there at the box and look all you want. People do it. I have several snapshots of this from the last ANA convention. You never even have to buy one and you still get the fun of looking. Another way to buy is to patronize a recognized dealer in this area. Two that come to mind are Francis Rath and Frank Robinson. They both advertise in The Celator. Even the normally high-end Classical Numismatic Group has sold off its "floor sweepings" once and you are lightyears ahead paying $10 for CNG's idea of "junk." I have bought bulk lots of low-end coins from Rath and Robinson both. You get what you pay for, but at least these guys have been in business for decades, and intend to remain, so they have a stake in keeping their customers happy. Realize that "uncleaned" does not mean "unsearched." A few years back, I sat with an importer of these coins one morning, making up lots of 10, 20 and 50. It doesn't take long to get good at this. That dealer set aside for different auctions the few coins that were a grade above junk. As Robert Heinlein pointed out in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, TANSTAAFL: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Michael
