Graded Coin Collecting

I have recently started collecting coins, and when I started, I decided to buy only MS-70/PR-70 coins from PCGS and NGC. I buy pandas, a few ASE's, US Commemoratives, and Australian coins mostly, but stray a little if I like the look of a coin ie Israeli or Armenian Noahs coins. I am collecting in this fashion because I like the look of the coins and I am in no way thinking I'll ever make money doing this. Does anyone else here have the same approach to collecting as I do? Just curious if you have some thoughts. Thanks.

 

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Buy what you love. You have the right attitude about not worrying if you will make money, (most don't), so treat all coin purchases as hobby expenses. If you buy a coin for $60, and get $60 worth of enjoyment out of it, you have already won, right? Any amount of money that either you or your heirs sell it for is pure "profit".

Just curious, why MS70 TPG coins? Can you tell the difference between a 69 and a 70? If you can't, why does it matter? If you can, why not just go to a coin show and cherrypick one raw that is a 70? Usually TPG is used to make a coin liquid, not necessarily to benefit a collector long term. I am just curious why, since you seem to have a good attitude towards your hobby, a TPG slab of MS70 is important to you.

 

Your question is actually thought-provoking....I guess because I feel I am buying perfection, but perhaps, I am doing it the most expensive way, unfortunately. I try to only buy 1 slabbed coin per month, but find it hard to buy just one. I am not rich by any means, and I need to be more disciplined. I only buy from APMEX because I dont trust places like EBAY and others that I have read badly about. But to your point, maybe I should take the time and shop coins and maybe send a few in for grading. Thanks for your help.

 

Medoraman makes a valid point, but lets take this a bit further. If you can't tell the difference between a 69 & a 70, then how would you know if you are buying "perfection" or not? If you ever have the opportunity to examine a large volume of 69's, say at a coin show, then you might be surprised how little difference there is between the 69 & 70. On the other hand, there IS a BIG, BIG difference between the prices of the two. Since, as you say, you're not rich, you might discover that you can buy 2-3 69's (or more) for a price equal to just one 70.

Chris

 

Or, (this is just me talking), why not just learn how to grade between a 69 and 70, cherrypick coins that you feel is a 70, and feel good enough about that? Why is the TPG slab and grade needed at all? I completely understand your desire to get the best coin possible, most collectors feel that way. I am simply asking sir why, if you learn the differences and can pick out a 70 amongst the 69's yourself, do you need to pay someone else to agree and slab it? This is especially true if you are on a tight budget. Think of it this way, if you pick out the 70's yourself, then every third or fourth coin you buy is free, because you do not need to pay money to the TPG company.

As an example, what does a MS70 2014 panda go for, around $70? Last weekend a dealer had sheets of these for $28 each. I am sure there were 70's in there. He also had ASE's and Maple leaves. I know a knowledgable collector could have picked out MS70 panda, ASE, and maple leaf all for the price of one TPG certified 70 panda. If the collector only wanted a 70 coin, and was not concerned about resalability, isn't this a better solution? Always remember, if you are a coin collector the coin, not the slab, should be what is important, right?

Btw, these are just questions. I am a friend of all coin collectors, and if your thing is only slabbed 70's, I have no problem with it. Just making sure you have a reason.

 

If you enjoy what you collect, that's all that matters.

If you don't think you enjoy it that much, Buy a good coin book, such as a redbook and look at the coins for that matter, and pick one that you like.

 

Okay, I'll take the flip side of this suggestion.

First, the OP has already said that he uses APMEX pretty much for all of his purchases, and does not care for SleazeBay. I don't blame him! Obviously, he won't be able to cherrypick specimens from APMEX. His only alternatives would be local B&M's or coin shows.

Because of overhead considerations, local B&M's won't normally have a large quantity of raw, same date/mm on hand for him to compare. It's just not profitable. His best opportunity to examine a large supply of a specific coin would be at coin shows if he doesn't mind moving from table to table.

In either case, most dealers take advantage of bulk submissions so they don't have to spend any time grading the coins themselves. The advantage to this is that they can specify a minimum grade, wherein, all others are returned to them raw. They hope to receive enough 70's from a given submission where they can earn the greatest profit and break even on the lower grades. Any coins that are returned to them ungraded are those which the collector will probably encounter trying to cherrypick them raw.

Chris

 

I have no issue with how you are collecting, but you mention you are "buying perfection" by purchasing MS70/PR70 coinage. However, the TPGs do not necessarily define the 70 grade as perfection. Rather, they merely give the 70 grade out to those coins that pass their proprietary standards for the 70 grade. There is a difference between these two concepts.

 

Could be. I understand you would most likely have to go to coin shows if there is not a good dealer nearby. I also understand some dealers run their stuff through the TPG with caveats to only grade the 70's. However, I know for sure at least two dealers where I am who simply buy the raw coins to sell to their bullion clients. So, its doable, I have done it, but of course depending on the OP's geography may not be practical.